


An Abundance of Youth

by Arytra



Series: Section 123 [13]
Category: Sesame Street (TV)
Genre: Alan and Penelope need to invest in kiddie leashes, De-aging, Fluffy, Mild Hurt/Comfort, More Fluff, Mostly shenanigans, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-07-02 05:04:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15789525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: Mumford isn't the best at magic and sometimes he screws up.  More rarely, though it still happens, he screws up in a way that he can't fix without some serious research.  And often times, that involves a protector here or there.  This time, it affect a good proportion of the street.  And it was sheer luck that non-protector adults weren't on the street and that Alan and Penelope were off the street.  Regardless, this was going to be a very difficult time period.





	1. Assessing the Damage and Containing the Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, ReleasingmyInsanity! One fic with the majority as children just for you!

Alan had had a lot to do before he called in reinforcements. First was to send Mumford directly to the library with instructions on finding a fix for this and also to stay off the street for when Penelope got home. There had been a explosion of agreement on those instructions and the hapless magician had done as Alan asked, the only upside being that this hadn’t affected any other adult on the Street since they hadn’t been around. The second part was to come up with a plan that didn't involve panicking. The third was to accept that he was going to panic first and then reach the second part. The fourth was to find Mr. Macintosh and Willy, again, as they'd found their way out in the chaos.

He knew a few things at this point. He knew that they were still of sound mind, for a relative definition of such, but that they were also not reacting perfectly rational either. Ergo, Willy and Mr. Macintosh slipping out the door. He knew that Travis had taken Kathy and Donovan on some sort of retreat, which translated to giving Penelope a little break from her rambunctious agents. Truth be told, he wouldn't mind Travis' help but the other two probably would have been less help than anything else. He didn't have a number for Owen. Mr. Handford and Bob's uncle hadn't answered their phones. Gabi and Miles were fortunately away on a school trip, giving Alan time before they got back.

That said, it helped very little when Maria held up what used to be a toaster proudly or when he had to grab Luis always from tinkering with the still plugged in dishwasher. He had nearly panicked when Bob had spun himself enough to knock over himself as well as Susan and Gordon. David was arguing with everything he said. Linda had tried to jump off the counter twice in an attempt to see how much distance she could get, claiming that she was small enough to do so now and Gordon had actually cheered her on by reminding her that getting a running start should increase her distance. Alan had caught her both times before the jump. Olivia was alternatively cheering on Linda, Bob, and Maria depending on which of them had her attention. When Alan had scolded her for it, she just crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. Harriet was currently in an argument with her grandson. Mr. Hooper was just watching all of them without being much help at the moment. And Alan was currently trying to coax Gina out of the corner.

No one was dead, even if Mr. Macintosh and Willy were currently missing. The majority of them were in one place. Alan had this under some sort of control. He just really, really needed Mumford to find a cure. Now.

***

It was rare that Penelope received calls from Sesame Street while she was at work. During the very few times she had, they were either Bob, David, Susan, or Mr. Hooper. It wasn't like the others couldn't call her, but they just didn't. David's were normally work related, Susan's were normally Donovan and Kathy related, Mr. Hooper's happened when he felt she had lost track of time and that whatever she was working on could wait until tomorrow, and Bob's were actually random in what he wanted or needed. Of all of the members of Sesame Street, she was least expecting Alan to call her. Not because she didn't like him, of course, but because he just always seemed a bit nervous about her. Then again, Alan seemed nervous about everything so she wasn't about to take it personally.

That said, when he'd very politely asked that she come home early, Penelope was quick to finish up. She had made certain it wasn't an emergency that she needed to drop everything for, which Alan insisted it wasn't, and made certain to finish what she was working on before heading out the door. She made her way straight to Hooper's, simultaneously trying to be polite to the children while also letting them know she was in a hurry. She opened the door and heard Alan yell out. “Careful!”

Penelope stopped, paused, and looked behind the door to see a very young blonde girl sitting behind it. Penelope shut the door behind her and leaned down. “You shouldn't sit behind doors,” she said as gently as she could manage. “You could get hurt. You can sit in one of the other corners.”

“No I can't,” the girl said. “The others keep falling into them.”

Penelope blinked and looked behind her. Ten other children of varying ages were causing a ruckus in Alan's store and Penelope did not recognize a single one of them. She looked at Alan who looked far more stressed than even normal and like he was trying to keep control. She paused for a minute, wondering why Mr. Hooper hadn't decided to help the younger man out and her mind clicked. No one had been at the fix-it shop. No one had greeted her to let her know how there was a problem. No one had been sitting on the stairs. Or rather, none of the adults had. She looked back at the very young girl. “Gina?”

“Yep,” Gina answered.

“Okay, first off? Get out of there. You're going to get hurt. Second, what happened? Third, how old do you think you are? Fourth, I counted ten other kids so are Mr. Macintosh and Willy still adults or did they sneak off? Fifth, do we have a time frame?” She asked. Gina did as she was told, fortunately, taking Penelope's offered hand as the agent led her back over to where Alan was, knowing full well he'd heard the questions as well. Gina still tried to answer.

“Mumford was working on a spell and then we were all kids,” Gina explained. “And I was working on with a dog and then I couldn't even reach him and he ran off...”

Gina's eyes started to fill with tears and Penelope quickly grabbed some napkins and handed them to her while also moving her other arm slightly in case Gina wanted a hug. The girl quickly accepted the invitation. Penelope figured they could get back to the questions later. “There's a lot of emotions in being a kid,” she said. “And trying to hide them just ends in a meltdown. Cry if you need to and then go ahead and finish.”

She lifted her head, letting Alan know she'd talk with him in a minute. She remembered being spoken over years before and putting Gina through that was not something she was going to do. Fortunately, Gina's tears had stopped the cacophony that had been taking place a moment before. Gina looked at her, tears now under control. “I think I'm three or four. And Mr. Macintosh and Willy are changed too but they left.”

Penelope nodded, not bothering to reask her last question. If Mumford was involved, then the answer was that it would be fixed whenever he figured it out. “You will be okay,” Penelope reassured her. “It's hard and I'm sorry it happened to you, but you’ll live. I promise.”

Gina nodded. “Okay,” she agreed.

“I want you to go stand over by Alan for a minute and cover your ears, okay?” She said. Gina shrugged and did as she was told. Penelope looked over and glanced through the group, finding the one she was looking for. Slightly older than some of the kids, female, looking completely done with the situation, that was Susan alright. “Susan, why don't you do the same as Gina?”

Susan quickly stood up and made her way over though, unlike Gina, she didn't cover her ears, knowing exactly what Penelope was up to. Once the two were over there, she gave a quick smile to Alan to reassure him before turning on the rest of them. “I realize I was difficult to deal with when this happened to me. I realize that I was moody, stand-offish, didn't want help, insisted on trying to handle it on my own, and scared the entire street more than once. I did not, however, go Lord of the Flies in five minutes! Bob, go sit in a non-moving chair. Gordon, if I catch you cheering on Linda again, I will put you in time out. You two are what? Ten? Act like it. Maria! Stop taking apart everything in Hooper's. The rest of you better stop her because I am not about to let any of you hooligans use the stove so Alan is your best chance of not living off cereal until Mumford fixes this. Luis, you will be helping her fix everything and make sure it's unplugged! Olivia, same rules as your brother only add in cheering anyone on and you'll get that time out. Linda, time out. Go to the corner. You're about what? Seven? Seven minutes then. Harriet! David! Separate sides of the store now! Harriet, you're around sixteen years old! Stop it. And you!” She said, focusing on Mr. Hooper.

“I wasn't doing anything,” he grumbled at her, matching her glare. Her eyes narrowed.

“That's the problem,” she said. “You should have been helping Alan the minute you turned. Letting them run amok was just cruel.”

“They aren't my responsibility!” Mr. Hooper argued. She folded her arms.

“Just because something is not specifically your problem, doesn't mean you shouldn't help,” she said. She turned back to the group as a whole. “I know that you're all adjusting. Fine. But I'm going to go get Mr. Macintosh and Willy and the lot of you will start to clean up this mess and apologize to Alan before I get back! Do I make myself clear?”

There was an assortment of agreements from the group, some enthusiastically apologetic and others more of a grumble and she didn't really care as long as they did it. She turned to Alan. “You and I will work on a plan when I get back. I'm sorry I didn’t get back sooner but nothing is on fire so you did fine,” she said. “It's an impulse control problem. They'll get an equilibrium soon.”

Alan nodded. “I was able to handle them one at a time,” he said. “But it was like they started working each other up.”

Penelope sighed. “It's going to be a long day,” she said. “Let's close down the store for today so we can figure things out. And we should probably try to get an ETA from Mumford when we have a minute.”

Susan looked at her. “I thought you would be angrier at Mumford.”

“It was an accident,” she said. “And the last time this happened, I was still hurting from my own experience.”

“This has happened before?” Alan asked.

“Well, not like this where the majority of the adults were hit,” Penelope offered. “Why weren't you hit?”

“I was off the Street,” Alan said. “I got back and they were like this. But people have become kids?”

“I spent a week as a child,” she answered. “And Maria spent a day as one. There are several protocols in place if this gets out of control, but it seems to be within acceptable perimeters for the moment. Speaking of which, Susan, you're ten years old. It's okay to relax a bit and let me handle this. Just try to keep Bob and Gordon from dying and I think we'll be fine.”

“I thought you wanted me to relax,” Susan reminded her and Penelope grinned down at her.

“You'll do it anyway,” she reminded her. “But do something you enjoy. Alan and I will take care of this.”

Penelope stood up, nodded in what she hoped was solidarity to Alan, and headed out the door to collect the two remaining children.

***

Alan watched her walk out the door and looked toward the others. “So, uh, cleaning,” he said, motioning with one hand. Before they started, David looked over.

“Sorry, Alan,” he said. Alan blinked. He knew they'd all do what she asked, but he didn't expect the most argumentative member to be the one to start it. “I've done that job and it's hard. We shouldn't have made it harder on you.”

Ah. That made more sense. He'd forgotten that David had worked for Mr. Hooper before. “We got carried away,” Bob agreed after him. “And we should have stopped.”

“Sorry for encouraging them,” Olivia added.

_“Sorry for trying to jump off the counter.”_ Linda added from her corner. Due to her being deaf, Alan had the feeling that Penelope wouldn't mind the fact that Linda wasn't looking directly in the corner for safety reasons.

“Sorry about giving Linda ideas,” Gordon added.

“Sorry about, uh, your kitchen,” Maria said sheepishly.

“And the dishwasher,” Luis added. Alan groaned.

“The dishwasher was fine a minute ago,” he said.

“Well, it was fine a minute before Penelope got here,” Luis offered. Alan forced back the groan. At least either Luis or Maria had unplugged it this time.

“We'll fix it,” Maria assured him. “Just make us a priority list.”

David grumbled. “Penelope will absolutely keep her promise so let us know what the rest of us can do because I don't want Cheerios for dinner.”

“Sorry about the arguing, dear,” Harriet said to Alan. “I'm afraid he gets that from me. Here, Gina. Why don't you and Susan come sit with me so that you aren't in Alan's way?”

“They aren't in the way,” Alan said quickly. Harriet just smiled at him and motioned to his deconstructed kitchen. “Oh.”

“You're doing fine,” Harriet reassured him. “Penelope wasn't wrong about the impulse control.”

“Can you keep it under control?” He asked. Harriet paused and then shrugged.

“Long enough for Penelope to get back,” she answered. Alan was willing to accept that.

***

Penelope had headed out of the door and straight toward the fruit cart. She was nearly certain that Willy's hot dog cart wouldn't work as well for what she was pretty sure was going on. Sure enough, she glanced behind the cart and cleared her throat as loudly as she could. Both of them jumped apart as she just looked down at them with her hands on her hips. Mac managed to compose himself first. “Jeez, Penelope. You sound like Harold when you do that.”

“I'm going to ignore that, Mr. Macintosh,” she said before glancing slightly behind him. “Willy.”

“Hi Penelope,” Willy said, sounding far more apologetic than his husband.

“Do I need to remind you two how irresponsible it is that you were making out behind the food cart?” She demanded. “Or that you left Alan alone with nine children, your supposed best friend, and said friend's girlfriend?”

“I think you just did,” Mac answered helpfully.

“Not funny,” she said firmly. “Alan should not have had to handle that. You know he has a hard time with stressful situations.”

“We're fifteen and sixteen,” Mac reminded her. “We're choosing to act like it.”

“Don't make me choose to ground you,” Penelope said and then sighed. “Look, I think that Alan and I can handle this, but it's taking me away from the other kids when I have to come look for you. So, here's your ground rules: You will not make out where the kids can see you. You will come to dinner at the time I give you. You will not influence the kids, both de-aged and just normal, to do anything you wouldn't normally convince them to do. You will remember that Alan and I just got a much larger amount of work and you will respect that. And you will leave your window open.”

“Penelope!” Willy said, looking a little scandalized.

“I mean it,” she said. “Window. Open.”

Mac looked at her and then nodded. “Window open,” he promised. She relaxed a bit at that. She knew that they were technically adults, but there were just some things that would have felt wrong to let them get away with. She felt an arm around her shoulder as Mr. Macintosh smiled at her. “You have this handled, but you're right. We shouldn't pull you from the kids. Just try to remember that Mr. Hooper is a kid right now too.”

“You two are easier,” she grumbled. Willy joined her other side and gave her the same sort of huge that Mr. Macintosh had started.

“You just want to get back at him for all of the times he's made you do things you don't want to do,” Willy scolded. Penelope looked at him.

“Is that really so wrong?” She asked.

“Yes,” Willy said. “And completely human. Just give him the same rules as us. That's fair, isn't it?”

She nodded. “It is,” she agreed. “But if something like this happens again where everyone becomes children...”

“We'll help Alan,” Mac assured her. She nodded and pulled away from them both.

“And stay out of trouble,” she said firmly. “I mean it.”

“Yes, Penelope,” both of them said together with an amused look on their faces. She would have been more annoyed about it if it wasn't such a ridiculous situation. She did, however, believe them. The rules were simple and easy for them to follow. She just needed to keep that in mind when she dealt with the rest of them. She needed to find a middle ground between their adult and child minds and then ignore that line because her friends were just as troublesome as adults. Fortunately, she was pretty certain that Alan would be a good counterpoint here and make sure she didn't go overboard in either direction. She headed back to the store, pleased with herself.

She stepped inside and headed over to Alan. He looked at her and then in confusion. “I thought you were getting Willy and Mr. Macintosh.”

“We had a talk,” she answered. “And sorted some things out. We should probably give Harriet and Mr. Hooper similar rules since they're the same age. If you don't mind, I'd like to handle that.”

“Yes,” Alan said quickly, wanting nothing to do with that conversation. Penelope nodded.

“I'll take care of making dinner for Mr. Hooper and bringing it down,” she continued. “As for the others, we should probably come up with rules and then we should keep an eye on them.”

“You don't think they'll follow them?” Alan asked.

“Alan, I've known them for years. Unless their names are 'Gina' or 'Susan', they think the word 'rule' means 'how can I smash that idea into itty-bitty pieces before Susan or Mr. Hooper find out?' No. They are not going to follow the rules,” she answered. “We should each take one of the easier two. Why don't you take Gina? I'll take Susan.”

“Gina is more emotional,” Alan mentioned quietly. Penelope looked uncomfortable.

“I'm not exactly soothing,” she said. “And I'll take Bob, Gordon, and Linda to go along with Susan.”

“Done,” he said quickly. Both of them knew who the trouble-makers were after all. Maria, David, Luis, and Olivia tended to go along with the plans, but Linda was the ring-leader and Bob was just as bad.

“When I get back, we can figure out rules ,” she said, standing straight. “But first, I need to talk to Mr. Hooper and Harriet.”

Alan gave her a sympathetic look. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” she said. She stood up and looked over. “Mr. Hooper? Harriet? Can I please talk with you both in the back?”

She let it be a request to begin with so that it wouldn't push against the teenage need to rebel. Fortunately, it worked for the moment though this next part would be the harder bit. For all that Harriet tended to argue as much as her grandson did, the woman had been acting rational enough in this scenario and as long as she gave the same expectations as Mac and Willy, she had the feeling that it would be fine. It was the other one that she knew was going to be a problem. Once the door was shut, she looked at them both.

“Alright,” she said, looking at them both. “Normally, I would say what you do in your life is your own choice and when this is over, we'll all go back to pretending we don't know you two have been dating for decades now. But right now, I need to lay out the same rules I did for Mr. Macintosh and Willy so I'm not looking the other way until everything is back to normal. So, here's the rules: You will not make out where the kids can see you. You will come to dinner at the time I give you. You will not influence the kids, both de-aged and just normal, to do anything you wouldn't normally convince them to do. You will remember that Alan and I just got a much larger amount of work and you will respect that. And you will leave your window open when you're in Mr. Hooper's apartment.”

Harriet seemed to nod along to each of the rules, accepting them in turn as reasonable. Penelope gave her a thankful smile and then waited. She didn't have to wait long. “Harriet? Would you excuse us?” He asked. Penelope nodded her agreement considering that she didn't need to worry about the teen arguing the rules with her. Once Harriet had left, Mr. Hooper rounded on her. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Creating age-appropriate rules for the four of you,” she answered. “Which the other three accepted just fine, other than poor Willy looking scandalized by my implication with the window. It didn't scandalize Mr. Macintosh so I think I made the right call. It's only fair to give the four of you the same rules.”

“You don't get to make the rules,” he snapped.

“Well you don't get to today,” she snapped back. “You're sixteen, you don't feel like being responsible, and I don't feel like playing 'Stop Mr. Hooper every five seconds' because you forget your age. They're reasonable rules so stop arguing with me just because you don't like losing control!”

“I am in control!” He answered.

“No you're not,” Penelope said. “You're emotionally charged. You're rebellious. You're a teenager. And I think I see why we were all animals for two days because I can see this version of you playing a huge trick on Owen.”

“Penelope...”

“It won't work right now,” she said. “You're younger than I was when I first met you. I'm in charge right now so knock it off or I will ground you. Right now, I have to deal with 13 kids, Mr. Hooper. Somehow, I think you understand how that feels. I would already be grounded right now if I pulled what you're pulling so stop it.”

“We were patient with you when you were a child!” Mr. Hooper reminded her.

“And I'm trying to return the favor!” she answered. “But you’re not making it easy!”

“Why are you always this difficult?” They both snapped at the same time. There was a pause before Mr. Hooper just started laughing. Penelope just sat down, looking worn out as Mr. Hooper sat next to her.

“I didn't go that far with the rules,” she said, trying to still sound in charge. Mr. Hooper sighed.

“You didn't,” he agreed. “I just don't like having to answer to anyone.”

“I don't either,” Penelope argued. He looked at her.

“You need it,” he said. She scoffed. “All of you need it.”

“And right now, you need it,” she said. Before he could interject, she quickly continued. “I've done this before. And it was hard on all of you, but it was also hard on me so I know what you're going through. You have your adult brain but all of these feelings and impulses that you probably would ignore better if you were physically older. And suddenly, people that you were elder to are treating you a lot younger. You did what you could to understand and I appreciated that. But I have to help keep an eye on 13 people, not to mention the actual kids running around, and I can't return the favor.”

Mr. Hooper was quiet for a minute. “Alright,” he agreed. “Maybe I should help with the kids.”

“We’re fine.”

“What about with dinner?”

“Mr. Hooper, go... go spend time with Harriet for a bit until dinner,” she said.

“You were going to say go play,” he informed her.

“Yeah, well, I didn't,” she said, though she saw the same sparkle of amusement in his eyes that she knew were in hers as they reached a tentative understanding. “Window open!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I mean it!”

***

Alan watched with the others as Harriet came back out calmly. She shrugged. “They needed to have a talk.”

“You didn't like your storage area, did you?” Luis asked Alan in amusement. Susan gave him a look.

“Luis! Don't worry, Alan. They might yell at each other, but they're not going to do anything else,” she assured him. Bob was right next to the door, trying his best to listen in as Gordon and Linda, newly out of time out, asked him what they were saying. Alan was relieved to see that they couldn't actually hear what was going on. Unless Penelope and Mr. Hooper got louder and killed each other which Susan seemed certain they weren’t doing. At least if the three were by the door, that was three of them that he didn't have to worry about. Olivia was sitting next to Gina, letting her legs dangle as she watched her friends try to find out what was going on. If they figured it out, they'd let her know.

Maria was trying to concentrate on putting the dishwasher back together since Luis hadn't done that badly by it. Alan had made her a priority list so that he could cook after. Luis was in between, somewhat helping Maria and somewhat trying to hear what the others were hearing. David had slipped over to the others to see if Bob was getting anything. Susan was reassuring Gina. There really were too many of them.

Fortunately, it didn't take too long for the door to reopen, Gordon swiftly yanking Bob out of the way. Mr. Hooper rolled his eyes as he walked past them while Penelope gave each of them a quick look, sending them scattering. She made her way back over. “Are you ready?” She asked.

“How do we discuss this?” He asked. She motioned with his hand to continue.

“What are you thinking?” She said. At his surprised look, she rolled her eyes. “I don't live alone. I know how to compromise.”

“I, uh, just haven't seen you do that,” Alan said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible.

“Travis just defers to me on the street. And I'm in charge of Kathy and Donovan,” she answered. “Like I said, I can compromise so what are you thinking?”

“Splitting up the kids is a good idea, but do we need to split up Mr. Macintosh, Willy, Mr. Hooper, and Harriet?” He asked. Penelope shook her head.

“It's handled and they're teens. It’ll be fine for them to be on their own with the rules I set up for them. Did you want to know those rules?” She asked as politely as she could. He shook his head.

“I want nothing to do with it,” he said uneasily. “Mr. Hooper is my boss.”

She nodded at the potential conflict of interest there. “Just back me up?” She requested. At his nervous look, she huffed. “It’s not easy on me either, Alan. Mr. Hooper and I have a complex relationship and this has upended it a bit.”

“Complex relationship,” Alan said, looking a little suspicious at her. Travis had explained the relationship as had David. Gina had even mentioned it in passing. He wasn’t sure who she thought she was fooling, but he also knew to let it go for now as she firmly nodded. This wasn’t the time to disagree with Penelope about terminology. “I’ll back you up.”

“Thank you,” she said. “That’s all I ask. So, the kids?”

“How much supervision do they need?” He asked.

“Constant,” she answered.

“Aren’t they partially adults?” He asked.

“That’s what worries me,” she answered. “Usually, they leave you out of things. But they didn’t earlier. I don’t want to think about what Linda can come up with without impulse control. Gina will be fine, but she’s also very small.”

“It won’t hurt to ask her to stay nearby,” Alan agreed. “Susan is mature.”

“She won’t leave Gordon and Bob on their own,” Penelope said confidently. “Maria, Luis, and Olivia are more likely to cause trouble when someone is leading them which is why I took Linda. Bob can’t resist Linda, but at least that cuts down on the number of people following her. David argues a lot so be ready for that, but he isn’t likely to suggest jumping off the roof either unless you put the idea in his head and tell him no. So, what else?”

“No taking everything apart,” he answered.

“No doing unsupervised science.”

“No cooking without supervision.”

“No leaving the Street without an adult,” Penelope finished. She gave his a polite smile and patted his arm. “We could be worse at this.”

Alan wasn’t certain who he needed to talk to about explaining to Penelope that she was less than comforting, but he’d make some inquiries once the others were adults again. She moved to be in sync with him and he realized she was moving at his pace rather than her own. He remembered that unlike him, she had a partner who she was used to working with and was trying at least to make it easier on him. At least, he was pretty sure that was what she was doing. Her relaxed smile when he followed suit told him that he was right and he followed her toward the others.


	2. Rules and Containing Chaos

There was one large advantage that Penelope had over Alan and that was the fact that she didn’t care how much they wanted to argue with her, she felt herself to be in the right and she was going to make certain that they listened. Alan, for his part, nodded his agreement as she stated the rules. As she had stated to Mr. Hooper earlier, she had appreciated the patience that they had had for her, but she had been one child with several guardians. In this case, they had two guardians for several children. She couldn’t afford to be as generous.

“It’s still not up for discussion,” she said firmly to David. “I explained what will happen and that’s the end of it. With luck, Mumford will find an answer soon and that will be the end of this.”

“What about our jobs?” Maria asked.

“You’re all on break until further notice,” Penelope answered. She’d noticed that both Harriet and Mr. Hooper had gotten out the moment she started this talk and was jealous of both of them.

“But Grandma and Mr. Hooper aren’t having to follow these rules!” David fought.

“They’re older than you. Gina has an extra rule because of her size too,” she said, giving Gina an apologetic look which her youngest sister took in stride. Was she allowed to play favorites? Because right now Gina was absolutely her favorite.

“Bob, Susan, and I are ten,” Gordon said, folding his arms. “Shouldn’t we get different rules too?”

“Susan could have them, but she wouldn’t use them because she won’t leave you two. Bob is a living example of a trouble magnet. And you’re worse than when I first met you three,” she said. “You get the same rules as the others.”

“Penelope?” She turned her attention to Gina. “Do you think that Mumford will figure this out pretty quickly?”

“I hope so,” she answered and caught movement out of one side her eye. _“I can see you moving, Linda. Stop now.”_

“It’s only for a while,” Alan took over while Penelope stared down Linda until she sat backed down. It didn’t take too long. Linda was clever enough to wait until Penelope wasn’t watching before she tried that again.

“Now, Maria and Luis have been trying very hard, but I don’t think that we’re going to get this place fixed before dinner,” Penelope said. They all winced. “But they are trying, so as long as Alan’s group keeps working on fixing things down here, I’ll take my group to the apartment and we’ll make dinner there.”

“Are you sure?” Alan asked, knowing the difficulty it would be to watch them and cook. She nodded.

“I would have had to anyway,” she answered. “Mr. Hooper doesn’t keep the store kosher because most of his clients aren’t Jewish. I was going to make him something anyway.”

“And this is why we keep saying that Mr. Hooper is your dad,” Olivia informed her.

“Not my dad,” Penelope answered easily. “He merely taught me to cook and I keep to the rules I learned by. Travis follows suit for me since we share the kitchen. And with Donovan converting to Judaism, it makes even more sense for us to be on top of it.”

“You cook for Donovan and Kathy?” Susan asked, looking far too proud.

“Well, I don’t want them to starve,” she said uncomfortably. “Look, do you guys want to hassle me about my life or do you want to eat something other than cereal?”

“Can we do both?” Luis asked hopefully.

“No,” she answered. There was the sound of disappointment which she promptly ignored. “Gordon, Susan, Bob, _Linda_ , you four are with me. The rest of you, behave for Alan,” she said firmly. She looked at her co-guardian. “Do you remember where my apartment is?”

“Yes?” He said, not sounding at all confident in the situation.

“If they give you trouble, bring them up and I’ll deal with them,” she said. Alan gave her a small smile.

“I’m sure they’ll be good,” he assured her. It took every ounce of Penelope’s willpower to not look dubious. She really didn’t want to scare him.

“Okay,” she said instead, taking her lot to the apartment with her while hoping the others would behave themselves. She was also concerned about her own place considering that while Travis and Penelope lived on Sesame Street, they rarely had house guests. The others understood Penelope’s need for privacy, for the most part, and respected that. She was about to open that part of herself to a small horde of children. Once inside, she looked at the four of them. “Look, just try not to destroy everything in my house while I’m cooking, okay? And stay in the apartment.”

“Have some faith in us,” Gordon said.

“No,” she answered. “I want all of you alive and unharmed and I don’t think having faith in you is conducive to that goal. Other than you, Susan.”

“Thank you, Penelope,” she answered. Penelope pretended like she didn’t see Susan stick her tongue out at the other three.

“Do you have anything to do?” Bob asked.

“I don’t know,” Penelope said, waving her hand. “Go look through stuff and see what you can find.”

“What if we find something incriminating?” Gordon asked. Penelope gave him a baleful look.

“From which of us? Travis’ near panicky need to follow the law or my actually being a member of law enforcement?” She asked.

“Not what I meant,” Gordon said, rushing off before she could take the words back. It wasn’t like she would. She hadn’t brought her work home with her and anything they found, she felt capable of discussing. She got to work, periodically checking on the four, when Bob came into the kitchen. She glanced at him.

“Gordon found your photos,” he informed her. She paused for only a second before continuing.

“And you four had questions?” She asked.

“Gordon probably does,” Bob said. “You don’t have a lot of them.”

“I don’t need a lot of them,” she answered. “I have as many as I need. And there are several there. I’m happy now, Bob. Stop worrying.”

He rushed over, hugging her waist and she set a hand on his back while still attempting to cook. Before he could continue to push, she gave him a taste test to distract him. It wouldn’t have worked on him if he was older, but he’d hopefully learned not to press so hard as well at this point when he was older. He looked at her. “That’s good!”

“Glad you approve. I need to finish dessert and then I’ll need the four of you to help me carry it down,” she said. He raced off to tell the others and she relax, putting dessert into the oven. She saw Gordon standing outside the kitchen and put dinner on low before heading out of the kitchen. “Alright, you four. If you have questions, now is the time since you found them.”

“Are you sure?” Susan asked and Linda looked just as tentative.

“I’m sure,” she said. “I can be open and talkative.”

“No you can’t,” all of them argued, even if Linda was signing it.

“Well if you don’t have any questions…”

“You look really happy in this one!” Bob said quickly, setting one of them down. Penelope smiled at it and then at him.

“You aren’t happy when you’re having a nice day out with your parents?” She asked. She sat down and decided to accept the fact that Bob was leaning against her and Linda was half-way in her lap. “They promised me a picnic after we got the picture taken. Mom did up my hair and got me the new dress and Dad helped me sneak things in the picnic basket when she wasn’t looking.”

“That’s sweet!” Susan said.

“We just didn’t take a lot of pictures but I have some nice memories,” Penelope said. She pulled out another picture. “Here’s when I became an agent.”

_“Is that the boss that punished you?”_ Linda asked somewhat tentatively. Penelope nodded.

“He was,” she answered. “And I hated him for it at the time, but I understand him a lot more now.”

“You’ve never been that strict with Donovan and Kathy,” Susan assured her. Bob nodded his agreement.

“You get angry at them, but you don’t decide to stop their careers,” he agreed. She leaned back.

“I also wasn’t trying to get a Supernatural Agency off the ground while dealing with someone who argued against the department’s best interests and stated that they needed to learn better manners. I’m lucky I was suitable for Sesame Street,” she said. Bob squeezed her waist.

“You’re the best for Sesame Street,” he said. She smiled.

“He agreed,” she said, pointing at the photo. “I often disagreed with him, but he also looked the other way at times and left me in charge. Plus I think he knew that Mr. Hooper would keep me in line better than he could. Besides, if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have all of you.”

“And that’s a good thing,” Susan said.

“Most days,” Penelope answered, pulling back from being too mushy about the whole thing. “Most of the rest of these you were here for. Weddings, births, birthdays, holidays.”

“You aren’t in most of them,” Susan informed her.

“I don’t need to be,” she answered. Linda handed her one more.

_“I didn’t recognize any of these people.”_ She said.

“You wouldn’t,” she answered. “They’re members of the only other section I get along with. The people have come and gone, but I’m always on good terms with them.”

Gordon looked at them, recognizing them and meeting her eyes as she gave him a quick nod. Fortunately, he didn’t say another word. Susan recognized the Section name and gave her a look as well as Penelope nodded a second time. She really didn’t want to bring up that the group of scientists that Gordon had helped her with early in her career had become the founding members of 1993 who were absolutely creating dinosaurs. She certainly didn’t want to let either of them know that it was Gordon’s fault for mentioning the idea around somewhat mad scientists either. She also figured she should probably hide the fact that all members of Section 1993 considered Gordon as an honorary member. If she mentioned any of it, Susan would probably be annoyed with her, Gordon would probably want a dinosaur, and she’d have to get Bob and Linda from trying to get to Dinosaur Island to get Gordon a dinosaur for his birthday. She did, however, smile fondly at the picture. The people of Sesame Street were her family. The people in Section 1993 were her friends.

“How come we don’t get to see them?” Bob asked.

“Because they don’t usually work at the Department and I rarely know when they’re visiting,” she answered.

“Why do you have pictures of Donovan and Kathy graduating?” Gordon asked. “I thought you didn’t know them at that time?”

“I didn’t,” she answered. “I requested them for Travis.”

“You stole them from Travis?” Susan asked.

“I made copies and gave the copies to Travis. Which he knows,” Penelope answered, giving Susan a look. “I kept the originals.”

_“How did you decide who got the originals?”_ Linda asked.

“I used a fair method of ‘I’m their team lead and I am abusing that privilege’,” she answered. “Besides, Travis hung up the copies in the living room.”

Gordon rushed out. “She’s right!” He called. Penelope translated for Linda. “They’re over the television.”

Susan paused and immediately looked at the fridge, laughing. “He puts up their agent stuff?”

“We don’t hang up the target practice. It feels wrong on Sesame Street, but they’re both crack shots. Donovan more than Kathy,” she said. Linda looked at hers.

_“What about yours?”_ She asked. Penelope shrugged.

“I don’t carry,” she answered. “I’m not required to take it.”

“I’ve never seen Donovan or Kathy carry either,” Bob said. Penelope nodded.

“On the rare chance we go into the field they do,” she said. “It’s a safety thing.”

“Then why don’t you?” Gordon asked. Penelope motioned to the fridge.

“Left side of the fridge, close to the top,” she instructed. Bob got there first and couldn’t stop from laughing. She found it slightly annoying, but when Gordon joined in and she saw Linda trying to cover her mouth, she sighed.

“It’s not that funny,” she grumbled. Susan was already hugging her around the waist before pulling back.

“You have a 100% success rate in diplomatic talks?” She asked.

“I don’t get out often,” she answered. “I’ve tried covering it up, but Travis keeps letting me know I accidentally covered it and that he fixed it.”

“You should be proud of it,” Susan said and looked at the other three. “Stop laughing at her.”

“It’s fine,” Penelope said rolling her eyes. She went to grab the food when she felt another hug and looked down. Bob had a weird expression of worry and amusement on his face.

“We’re really proud of you!” He said. She gave him a quick hug back and made certain to do the same for Susan.

“Thank you,” she answered. “Travis’ room has pictures that all of the kids have given him.”

_“Where are yours?”_ Linda asked. Penelope considered telling her that there weren’t any, but shrugged instead.

“In the proper files,” she answered. “I like looking at them while I’m doing work. Alright, you four. I’m going to pull dessert out of the oven. I need your help getting it down there. Linda, you help me with dessert. Susan, Gordon, you two carry dinner. Bob, keep the doors open.”

Certain that Linda could handle dessert and that Bob wouldn’t have a job that would involve dinner ending up all over the ground when he inevitably fell, she led them out and back toward Hooper’s Store.

***

Alan reached over and pulled David off the shelf. “What were you doing?” He asked.

“I wanted to get something off the shelf.”

“You could ask me for help,” Alan reminded him.

“But I already know where it is,” David answered. “And I could have gotten it.”

“Or you would have fell,” Olivia said from where she had been watching without alerting Alan to the trouble. At Alan’s horrified look, she shrugged. “I was going to tell you before he got too high.”

“You need to tell me right away!” He said. “No climbing!”

“Alan?” Gina called from where she was sitting. “Luis isn’t being careful.”

“Tattletale,” Luis grumbled as Alan rushed over.

“I thought you were working on the same things Maria was working on,” Alan answered. Maria had suggested, and Alan had agreed, to shut off the breakers for each of the electrical sockets that she was going to have to work near. Just in case something hadn’t been unplugged.

“I wanted to work on this instead,” Luis said, glaring at Gina.

“Stop glaring at Gina,” Alan scolded. “And work on what Maria works on.”

“Maria doesn’t want me to work on her stuff,” Luis said. Alan sighed.

“Maria, why don’t you want Luis to help you?” He asked.

“He’s in my way,” she answered and poked her head up. “But he can fix the chair that Bob broke.”

Alan jumped at this chance. First of all, it should stop fighting. Second, he needed the chair fixed. Third, he really didn’t want Luis near electronics at the moment. “Luis? Would you please help with that?”

“Okay,” he said. “But Maria should share.”

“It is important to share,” Alan said, though secretly he added that keeping Luis alive was more important. He just knew that right now, it would end in denial. Maria just sort of shrugged, but nodded. Alan didn’t push it. With Luis and Maria working on two separate things and with Luis’ being far more safe now, he turned his attention back to the other three only to groan. “David!”

“I can get it!” David argued as Alan pulled him off the shelf. Again. He turned to Olivia. “Why didn’t you tell me this time?”

“You were busy with Luis and Maria,” Olivia answered. “Do you have a lot of marshmallows? We could put those under him in case he slips.”

“You are not helping,” Alan said sternly before turning to David. “Do not climb up there again!”

“But you’re busy!” David argued. Gina stood up and tugged on Alan’s shirt.

“I have an idea. Can I please go talk to Big Bird?” She asked politely.

“Uh… Olivia? Can you go with her?” He asked, not about to let Gina go around Sesame Street on her own. She was far too small and what if something fell on her? Like a box or a safe or an anvil. Alright, those last two were probably more likely in a cartoon, but he didn’t want to find out he was wrong. He would feel terrible about it. Penelope would kill him. If she didn’t, then Mr. Hooper and David and Susan and Gordon would when they got back to normal size. But more likely Penelope wouldn’t give them the chance. Fortunately, Olivia just roll her eyes and looked at Gina.

“Come on, Shorty,” she said. Gina glared at her.

“No fighting!” Alan said. Neither answered, but he didn’t hear any protests either. Fortunately, there wasn’t a large problem between Maria and Luis either meaning that Alan could focus his attention on stopping David from falling. Gina and Olivia came back soon after with Big Bird. Gina looked very proud of herself and Olivia looked a little impressed.

Gina walked over to David. “Big Bird says he’ll be happy to pull down anything you need,” she said. David blinked.

“I can…”

“You’re making Alan nervous and you’re right. Alan is too busy. So Big Bird can help!” She said. Big Bird looked at David.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m a lot bigger and can reach the high shelves. You’re a lot smaller, David.”

“Thanks, Big Bird,” David said dryly.

“I think it’s a great plan,” Alan said quickly. “Good thinking, Gina.”

“Thank you, Alan,” Gina said looking pleased with herself. Alan looked completely relieved and sat back for a moment, waiting for Penelope to be done with dinner and wondering how Mr. Hooper dealt with this on a constant basis. Fortunately, Penelope brought in dinner shortly after and set it on the counter, smiling as she did so.

“It looks like they should have everything fixed up soon,” she said.

“If Luis doesn’t electrocute himself first,” Alan answered. “And Gina had to get Big Bird to slow David down.”

“Smart,” she said. “I would have just argued with him.”

“Who would have won?” Alan asked.

“Me,” she answered. “Because I can make him go to time out right now. Which you can do too, you know.”

“It feels weird doing that,” he answered. “How do you do it?”

“They know when I’m threatening and when I’m not,” she answered. “I use that.”

He really needed to check in with the others on how to tell the difference. “And it’s not awkward?”

“Other than with Susan, Gordon, and Bob, I’m the older sister. With those three, there’s almost a catharsis to being able to tell them what to do,” she answered. “But I do understand. Mr. Hooper, Harriet, Mr. Macintosh, Willy… that’s a different awkward story. I’ll ground them if I have to, but it will be awkward when they’re older than me again. Fortunately, it looks like it won’t be necessary.”

She motioned toward the door as all four of the teens filed in and took a seat. Big Bird looked at all of them. “Gordon doesn’t have a mustache.”

“Well, he’s ten, Big Bird,” Penelope said. “He’s a little young for one.”

“Mr. Macintosh has his.”

“He’s older.”

“Willy has a beard!”

“He’s older than Mr. Macintosh is.”

“Oh,” Big Bird answered. “Why doesn’t Luis have his glasses?”

“He doesn’t need them yet,” Penelope answered calmly.

“Can they cross the street without a grown-up?” Big Bird asked.

“Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, Willy, and Harriet can,” Alan offered.

“Oh. Okay,” Big Bird agreed. Alan looked at Penelope who nodded.

“Big Bird?” Alan asked. “We’re going to sit down for dinner. Thank you for your help.”

“Can I come play with all of the kid grown-ups tomorrow?” He asked.

“If they are still kids, of course,” Alan assured him. Big Bird beamed at them and then paused.

“Who will tuck me in tonight?” He asked.

“I will,” Penelope assured him. “Now go have your own dinner and start to calm down for the night.”

“Okay,” he said, heading out the door. It took a bit to gently pull Maria away from what she was fixing, but Penelope and Alan worked together to make it work. Luis was perfectly happy to abandon the chair he was working on to start eating. Penelope looked at Maria.

“How close are you to finishing?” She asked, handing the girl a plate.

“Depending on when we have to go to bed,” she answered. “Not too long.”

“We put in a call to Mumford,” Alan said enthusiastically. “You may be back to normal before bedtime.”

Penelope and Maria had matching dubious looks. Penelope was the one who spoke though. “Yeah, sure, what he said. We’ll find out when he gets here and go from there. Let’s just be thankful that Gabi and Miles are still out of town.”

Maria nodded her agreement at that. Gabi and Miles had had to deal with their parents as animals but as children was another story. Alan had the feeling that no one wanted to see that situation right now. He was pretty sure that Penelope was glad that she didn’t have to watch over them as well. He was glad that Linda and Gabi wouldn’t be able to work together to cause more trouble. Then again, the entire thing could have just caused too much awkwardness and they were low on adults at the moment. No, it was better that they were gone for the moment. Still, he continued. “Won’t they call tonight?”

“They will in the morning. They’re doing things tonight,” Maria answered. That bought them some time at least. Before he could say anything else, Penelope groaned.

“David! Do not throw food at your grandmother!” She called out. “Time out! Seven minutes. Mr. Hooper, whatever you’re thinking, don’t!”

“Oh come on, Penelope!” David wheedled. “It wasn’t that bad!”

“Time out!” She said again and looked at Mr. Hooper. “I mean it.”

“I was just sitting her,” he told her, not even annoyed. Alan was certain Penelope had been right. He caught the team up before Penelope did.

“Harriet!” He called out and Penelope turned her gaze to look at Harriet. “Do not throw food at your grandson.”

“He started it,” she said calmly.

“I don’t care who started it,” Penelope said firmly. “No throwing food!”

“Can we fling food?” Bob asked.

“No.”

_“What if it accidentally falls off our plate and onto someone else?”_ Linda tried.

“Then you’ll accidentally get sent to time out,” Penelope said dryly.

“How can you accidentally…?” Alan started and Penelope gave him a look.

“Do not challenge Linda,” she warned. Alan quickly stopped asking.

“What if we weren’t actively throwing it, but it was shot by a catapult?” Gordon asked.

“No using science to throw food, Gordon,” Penelope said.

“Can he use a catapult away from the table with better supervision and safety?” Alan asked. Penelope just looked at him. “I’ve never seen anyone build a catapult before.”

“Wait until he’s bigger again and then ask him. Gordon is like a giant five year old when it comes to science,” she answered.

“I am not!” Gordon argued.

“You are too!” Susan fought back. Alan looked at her.

“Thank you for taking those four,” he whispered. She patted his arm.

“You could have handled it,” she answered, most likely lying through her teeth. Before any of the kids could come up with another way to get themselves in trouble, Mumford rushed in. The entire room looked at him before Alan spoke up.

“Were you able to find a counter spell?” He asked hopefully, wanting this nightmare to end.

“I did find that there was a spell,” Mumford answered. “Unfortunately, it’s in a library in Pennsylvania.”

“So you can’t fix us,” Maria said, not sounding the least bit surprised, but still disappointed.

“I, the Amazing Mumford, cannot fix you tonight but I will head there in the morning and find it,” he promised.

“But that doesn’t help us tonight,” Gina said, looking at herself sadly. Penelope sighed.

“Stop complaining. You get to have a giant sleepover. It will be fun,” she said, not bothering to put an ounce of enthusiasm in her voice. “Thank you for the update, Mumford.”

“I am sorry it is taking so long,” he said mournfully. Penelope pushed forward a semblance of a smile.

“Go home. Get some sleep. Go to Pennsylvania tomorrow. Alan and I have things under control. Don’t we, Alan?” She said.

“Yes! Under control!” Alan said, a little too enthusiastically. He probably shouldn’t try to overcompensate considering he was pretty sure that Mr. Hooper had just rolled his eyes at him. Considering that Penelope just shot Mr. Hooper a look, Alan was even more certain the usually older man had.

“I am terribly sorry abut this whole thing,” Mumford said as he turned to leave. “I will see you all tomorrow!”

With that, he headed out and the others looked at Penelope and Alan. Alan shrugged. “So, I guess we’re keeping the same groups?”

Penelope nodded. “Why don’t you keep Olivia, Maria, Luis, David, and Gina at Maria, Luis, and David’s apartment? That way you’ll have two bedrooms.”

“What about you?” He asked.

“I share with Travis,” she reminded him. “My apartment already has two bedrooms.”

“Oh. Right,” he answered. Penelope looked at the older four before glancing at Alan. He stood up at straight as he could at her side to back up whatever she was going to say.

“We are putting a lot of faith in you four,” she said sternly. “We’ll have the kids at 123 and you four will be in the other building.”

“Please just behave?” Alan pleaded. It probably wasn’t the best way to back Penelope up, but he really just didn’t want to deal with it. Willy gave a reassuring smile.

“We will,” he assured them. The others nodded their agreement. Both of the two adults nodded back as Penelope looked at Alan and then at the others.

“It’s just one night,” she offered. Somehow, that didn’t reassure him.


	3. Bedtimes and Fluffy Times

Before the teens headed back to their apartments, Penelope loaded them up on as much snack food as she thought they could use. She even split what was left between dessert between the two groups. She offered a bag to Mac and Willy as well as one to Harriet and Mr. Hooper once they were outside, trying her best to keep the others from seeing it. That said, she knew that all of them would be staring out the window to see what was going on. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Harriet asked.

“Snacks, food, unhealthy food,” she answered. Mr. Hooper looked at her.

“You’re supposed to be in charge and you’re giving us junk food?” He asked. “How do Donovan and Kathy still have their teeth?”

“I don’t let them do it,” she answered, feeling a little awkward at this point. Mr. Macintosh looked at his friend.

“Shut up, Harold. I want snack food,” he said, reaching out his arms. Penelope sighed and gave it to him. He looked at Willy. “I call the gummi bears.”

“Share!” Penelope scolded. Harriet looked over Mr. Hooper’s shoulder.

“There are gummi bears? Take the bag!” She said firmly. Penelope just handed it over to her.

“Stay in the apartments. Call if you need anything. Don’t use the stove,” she said. “I expect to see all of you in the morning at some point.”

“Will you make us waffles if we wake up early enough?” Mr. Macintosh asked. Willy looked over just as eagerly.

“Sure,” she said. Both of them grinned and headed off. Harriet looked at her.

“I wanted eggs,” she said softly.

“Maria should have everything fixed by tomorrow morning. Alan and I will make all of you what you want. Good-night,” she said firmly. Harriet nodded, looking much happier with that realization and Penelope looked at Mr. Hooper once Harriet was further off. “Don’t make her sleep on that couch.”

“Penelope!” He nearly choked out the word. She rolled her eyes.

“Mac and Willy are going to sleep in the same room. Do the same because it’s just sleeping and your window will be open. But your couch is terrible,” she told him. “And Harriet deserves better than that.”

“I wasn’t going to make her sleep on it. I was going to take it,” he said. She shrugged.

“You probably don’t deserve that either,” she answered. “Good night.”

“Good night,” he said, heading after Harriet. He paused. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” she answered. Having dealt with the teens, she turned her attention back toward the others. “We have to stop by Big Bird’s nest before we get to bed. Maria? Do you think you’ll get everything fixed up in time?”

“I think so,” she answered. “As long as Luis doesn’t try to help me again.”

“Alan!” Luis complained.

“Luis, you’re supposed to be fixing the chairs,” Alan said to him before looking at Penelope. “Maria doesn’t want to share. I don’t want him to electrocute himself.”

“Good goal,” she said. “Luis, work on what Alan told you to work on. Right now, as long as Maria thinks she can finish it and I agree that she can, Alan and I will make you breakfast in the morning.”

She noticed Alan look at her in surprise. “We both will?”

She motioned with her hand and then toward where the other four had exited from. “Unless you want to feed them on your own?” She asked sardonically. “Mr. Macintosh and Willy want waffles. Harriet wants eggs. You can’t tell me the rest of this horde aren’t going to want a mishmash of things and I would rather just make all of it than listen to them argue.”

“So, breakfast in the morning,” Alan quickly agreed. “I’ll call you if she can’t finish it.”

“Good,” she said with a genuine smile before turning back to the kids that wouldn’t be coming with her. “Now you listen to me. You four are not going to give Alan any trouble. Yes, I know there are five of you but Gina never counts in the ‘lectures I have to give because you’re all like untamed zoo animals’. Luis, Maria, stop arguing. David, Olivia, stop trying to scare Alan. Gina, have a good night.”

The small giggle she got from Gina almost made her smile, but she held it back for now. The other four looked at each other and David crossed his arms. Penelope did the same, ready for this. “We weren’t trying to scare him.”

“I don’t care. The four of you will behave or you will see why I have any semblance of control of Donovan and Kathy when they go too far. Is that clear?” She demanded. She wasn’t expecting them to be perfect, of course, but they all knew better than to include Alan. Alan leaned in.

“How do you have that control for those two?” He whispered.

“I have no idea,” Penelope answered. “But they don’t need to know that right now.”

Alan nodded and pulled back away. She kept her gaze on David’s until he looked away. Battle won. She just wasn’t expecting him to head over and give her a quick hug. “Good night, Penelope,” he said and she hugged him back. Then she hugged Olivia who figured out that they were going to be able to get away with it. Then Luis and Maria who caught her at the same time. She turned and held out her arms to give Gina one as well and turned to her four.

“Well. Come on then,” she said. “Good night, Alan.”

They really weren’t that bad. They were child-sized right now and even on their most obnoxious day, they were her family and she loved them. She just needed to have more faith that they could be sweet like they had just been. She was probably overreacting about their behavior.

“Has anyone else noticed that Penelope is like a kinda freaky Mary Poppins right now?” David asked and she changed her mind. Her reference to untamed zoo animals was definitely apt.

***

Alan looked at the rest of the kids before him. Penelope managed to only pause at David’s Mary Poppin’s description before continuing walking. He looked at him. “Stop goading Penelope,” he said firmly. “She’s trying really hard and you aren’t helping.”

“She is!” David said, standing by his description. He wasn’t even claiming he hadn’t been trying to get a rise out of her. Alan actively tried not to groan. “Besides, it’s Penelope. She can handle it.”

“That’s not a good reason to do things,” he said sternly.

“Alan?” Olivia called out. “I think we forgot something.”

She motioned to where Gina was falling asleep where she’d been sitting. Alan hurried over. “Is she sick?”

“I think she’s just tired,” Olivia said soothingly. “It’s been a long day. You should make her more comfortable though.”

Alan really was starting to wish that the four teens hadn’t taken off. One of them could have stayed with her while he dealt with making sure everything got fixed. “I don’t think we have anything here.”

Olivia shrugged. “I can go get a blanket and pillow from my apartment,” she offered.

“Thank you,” he said, calming down. He paused and looked over to see Luis and Maria looking over nervously. “She’s fine. She just fell asleep.”

Fortunately, that seemed to work for Luis. Maria still paused. “Do you need some help?” She asked. Yes he did, but he also really needed the store fixed.

“Olivia is getting her a blanket and pillow,” he answered. He made a note to not let them stay up as late as they would have liked considering that their bodies would likely have similar problems and Penelope had taken the three older kids. “The sooner you finish, the sooner we can all get back to your apartment.”

Maria nodded and went back to what she was doing to Alan’s relief. He didn’t want to have to let the others know that they couldn’t have a good breakfast because the store was still broken. Fortunately, Olivia brought back the pillow and blanket. He lifted Gina up to get the pillow and part of the blanket under her, accidentally somewhat waking her.

“Alan?” She asked.

“Go back to sleep,” he said gently. “We got you a pillow.”

She looked confused by that but closed her eyes again. David sat down next to her, letting her sleep on him a bit. Olivia leaned into him, putting her on his shoulder. Alan looked over to see that Luis was finishing up his job. He hoped that meant that Maria was almost done with hers too considering how little patience she had for her husband right now. Sure enough, she soon headed back out with a beaming smile. “Fixed!”

“Great!” Alan said, looking relieved. “And the chairs?”

“Also fixed,” Luis said, less cheery than Maria. “I could have helped.”

“You were helping,” Maria said. Before she could possibly continue that by claiming he was helping by staying out of it, Alan interjected.

“By doing a great job fixing the chairs,” Alan said. Luis nodded, not quite buying it, but Alan was honestly pleased that everything was fixed by this point. Maria made her way over to the others and sat on Gina’s other side, setting her head against David’s and reaching out. As if they hadn’t been quarreling all night, Luis easily slipped in next to her as Olivia had done to David. Alan would take them back upstairs in a minute, but he enjoyed the slight peace he had the moment and the feeling of there being a sense of order in the shop once more.

***

Penelope led the to Big Bird’s nest and easily read him the story before tucking him in for the night. “If you need anything,” she said. “I’ll be in my apartment and you come get me.”

“Okay,” Big Bird agreed, yawning. She gently kissed his beak.

“Good night, Big Bird,” she said.

“Good night, Penelope. Good night, Gordon. Good night, Bob. Good night, Susan. Good night, Linda,” he said and tucked in his beak. She led the rest of them out of the nest area and relaxed a bit. That was one problem done. Now, she just needed to get them upstairs and settled down. This was easier said than done. 

“Penelope, I’m starting to think you don’t trust us.”

“Because I put the baking soda and vinegar up as high as I could? Yes. It’s because I don’t trust you, Gordon.”

“But it will be fun!”

“There is absolutely nothing fun about sing campfire songs, Bob.”

_“It was a great plan.”_

_“We will never know because I am not letting you jump off the back of the couch with parachute pillowcases.”_

Susan just stayed out of the way, watching and not interfering. Penelope was not about to begrudge her the break and instead was just pleased she didn’t have to keep an eye on her as she was grabbing Lind off the couch when girl thought Penelope wasn’t looking. Finally, Penelope was done. “We’re going to read a story and then the lot of you can go to bed.”

“A story? Really?” Gordon asked. “Three of us are ten, Penelope. We’re able to read on our own. Come on, don’t you know how to deal with different age groups?”

“Gordon!” Susan snapped.

“It’s true!” He said.

“You don’t have to be mean about it! She’s just trying to be nice,” Susan told him. Penelope tried not to wince as Susan’s accidentally agreement with Gordon’s assessment hit. She tried to hide her embarrassment and awkward feelings as she continued.

“Look, if you four don't want a story. Fine. Just go to bed then,” Penelope grumbled.

“I want a story,” Bob said. “So we're a bit older. I still like being read to.”

She wasn't sure if he meant it or if he was trying to get her to feel better but Penelope nodded. “Alright. _Linda, go grab one of Travis' books_.”

She scampered off as Penelope sat down on the couch. Linda came running back, book in hand and climbed into Penelope's lap. Penelope looked at her. _“What do you think you're doing?”_

_“Getting comfortable.”_ Linda answered.

_“How are you going to see what I'm signing if you're on my lap?”_ She demanded.

_“I can read it myself. And I'll feel the vibrations.”_ She answered. Penelope considered protesting further and decided against it. She picked up the book and actively laughed a bit, noticing Linda's sly grin. _“Alice in Wonderland fits today.”_

Bob headed over to the couch and sat down as Penelope started reading. “Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?’”

She felt a slight pressure on her side and found that Bob had curled up next to her, taking her acceptance of Linda in her lap to be permission to cuddle next to her. She moved her arm slightly and rested it on his back to give him room to get closer. He might as well see the book too. She continued reading and eventually saw Susan sit down out of the corner of her eye. She moved her head to grant Susan the permission she was looked for and soon Susan was positioned similarly to Bob. “Would the fall NEVER come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?’ she said aloud. `I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think–‘”

“That's not what would happen,” Gordon said, still grumbling a bit.

“I didn't write the book, Gordon,” she snipped. Bob had fortunately translated for Linda the minute Gordon started talking. “I'm reading it and I'm sorry that the book from the 1800s isn't scientifically accurate. Not to mention coming from a girl about Linda's age.”

_“Hey!”_ Linda signed, looking displeased.

_“Most kids your age don't have the scientific knowledge of Gordon.”_ She signed, having moved her arms from the other two to do so. “Look, they want to hear the story. I'm trying to read it. Either go pout in Travis' room or be quiet and let me read.”

Gordon still pouted, but he didn't go to Travis' room. He instead sat down next to her legs. A few seconds later and Barkley was on her other side. She moved her arms to let Bob and Susan back in as Linda made herself comfortable. Soon, Gordon was leaning against her legs. She glanced at the time, knowing that if they had been kids, she would have gotten them to bed by now but also knowing that she didn't think it would matter that much for one night. When they started to nod off, other than Linda who was completely engrossed and actively reading instead of listening, she figured she should stop. She set the book down and nudged Gordon with her foot while moving her arms in a way to make sure the other two got the message. “Bedtime.”

_“But I wanted to read more of the story.”_ Linda pouted.

“No pouting. Bed,” Penelope said firmly. “Boys in Travis' room. Girls in my room.”

“How come Linda and Susan get to stay with you?” Bob pouted.

“They aren't. I'm sleeping on the couch,” she answered. The volley of protest over that arrangement did make her heart swell a bit, even if she wasn't about to admit it. “Stop arguing. You all need beds and Travis and I only have two bedrooms.”

“That doesn't mean that you shouldn't have your own bed!” Susan said. “Linda and I can share with you.”

_“I'm very small._ Linda agreed.

“Thank you, but Barkley and I will sleep in her here. Bed,” she said, amused when Barkley tried to follow. She sighed, letting the dog know that he needed to stay out there with her. Fortunately, there was little more protest with getting ready for bed from the children. She did find Susan looking at her though and sighed. “I'm fine, Susan. We have a comfortable couch. Go to bed.”

When Susan didn't move, Penelope stood up and headed over, looking at her. “Are you okay?” She asked.

Susan nodded. “It just doesn't seem fair,” she answered.

“Would you give your bed up for Miles?” Penelope asked and Susan laughed.

“It's not the same thing,” she reminded her.

“Right now it is,” she answered. “I'm going to have a hard enough time getting Linda to stop bouncing on my bed. I could use your help.”

“I know what you're trying to do,” Susan accused.

“Then just let me do it,” Penelope answered, leading the girl back into the bedroom and grabbing Linda as she bounced on the bed before setting her on the floor. _“Beds are for sleeping. Not bouncing.”_

_“I can do both._ Linda sighed, beaming.

_“One, it's my bed. Two, you're going to give Bob ideas.”_ She scolded. _“Lie down. Go to sleep. Don't anger the dangerous government agent.”_

“Penelope threats,” Susan and Linda said and signed at the same time. Penelope forced back the sigh, trying to still look in charge.

“Not this time,” she said. “Go to sleep.”

Fortunately, though she was certain that they still didn't believe her, they did close their eyes and she headed back out, turning off the lights before focusing on the boys room. Fortunately, she wasn't going to have to take Bob to the hospital because he bounced himself out the window copying Linda. She was, however, going to have to deal with Gordon. Bob had pulled himself completely out of the situation, not wanting to get between his willful preteen brother and their stubborn sister temporary guardian.

“Gordon,” she said. “Get in bed and go to sleep.”

“I don't want to sleep,” he answered. Penelope glanced in Bob's direction, waiting to see if he'd disobey her as well, but Bob's specialty often wasn't about being willfully pushy. He was sitting still at the head of the bed.

“Susan is going to sleep. Linda is going to sleep. Bob...” she started and Bob quickly climbed under the covers to Penelope's delight. “Is going to sleep. Go to sleep, Gordon.”

He fortunately didn't push further than that and got into bed. She nodded, heading back out. “Penelope?” Bob called out. She paused. “Good night.”

“Good night,” she answered back. She heard Gordon mumble out a good night and turned the light off, getting back to the couch. Barkley lifted his head up and she gently pet him. “We’re staying out here.”

She turned off the light and threw the blanket over herself, relaxing. Barkley leaned against the couch next to her and she found herself dozing off pretty quickly. Thus, when she heard her name and felt someone shaking her, she jolted away but had enough presence of mind to keep from shoving the offender back. She looked over. “Gordon? Did you have a nightmare?”

“I’m ten, Penelope,” he said. “I wouldn’t wake you up if I had a nightmare.”

“You could,” she said. “I understand nightmares. But then why are you up?”

“Do you remember when you turned into a kid and you were worried you wouldn’t get turned back?” He asked. She nodded. “Well, I get that now.”

Penelope pulled herself up into a sitting position and motioned next to her on the couch. “Mumford will get it figured out,” she said, trying to be reassuring. She did believe he would, but she was also wondering how long it would take. “So, if something happens and you are stuck? Then Travis, Alan, and I will take care of all of you. Kathy and Donovan might help at times. And of course we’ll take care of Gabi and Miles too. But it won’t happen. If Mumford can’t figure it out on his own, then I will make sure we fix this.”

“How can you be sure?” Gordon asked. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“Because I will call in every contact I have to find a solution,” she answered. “And that’s after I call Buffy, Sheldon, and Cody. We’ll find Owen. We’ll see if Uncle Wally knows anything. If we have to, I will track down wherever Ruthie went and see if she knows anything. But we will solve it.”

It seemed to have the result she was looking for. He calmed down considerably. Before she could usher him back to bed, she heard footsteps and looked up to see Bob look uncomfortably at them both. “I woke up and no one was there.”

“Gordon couldn’t sleep,” Penelope answered. “He can now. Go back to bed.”

“Do I have to?” Bob asked. She sighed at them both.

“Go get the blankets and pillows from the bed and then get back in here.”

Bob raced off before she could change her mind. Gordon looked at her. “You don’t have to…”

“We might as well get some sleep tonight, right? I’m going to go wake up the girls. If you all wake up in dog fur tomorrow it’s your own fault,” she said, heading into her room. Before she did anything else, she saw the light coming in from under the blanket and rolled her eyes. Of course Linda was reading under the blankets. She should probably wonder where she’s gotten the flashlight from, but it didn’t really matter. She turned on the light and signed as she spoke as Linda’s head popped out of the blankets. “Gordon and Bob can’t sleep so we’re sleeping out here in the living room. You two want to come or what?”

Susan stood up and headed toward the door before pausing. “Blankets and pillows?”

“Blankets and pillows,” she agreed. _“Linda? Flashlight.”_

Linda pouted, but handed it over as she grabbed her own pillow and blanket, heading into the room with the others. She helped them even out their blankets and pillows so that they would be comfortable, got them in, and headed back for the couch. “You’re not going to sleep on the floor?” Bob asked, sounding disappointed.

“And have fun?” Gordon asked. “It’s Penelope. Having fun is probably against some sort of regulation or something.”

“Not funny, Gordon,” Penelope said sternly, managing to keep herself from smiling. “I can have fun.”

_“Then sleep on the floor with us.”_ Linda pushed.

“You know, when I was turned into a kid, I didn’t expect Mr. Hooper to sleep on the floor with me,” she said, crossing her arms.

“You slept on the couch,” Gordon informed her.

“Not the point, Gordon,” she said. Bob paused.

“If you’d asked,” he said. “We would have.”

She sighed and threw her pillow on to the floor. “Move over,” she grumbled.

Bob easily did so and Linda beamed at her. Gordon looked at her and then at the others. “How do we decide who sleeps next to her?”

“Oh come on,” Penelope groaned. “Is it really that big of a deal?”

“Yes,” came three voices and one firm sign. She held back a sigh, deciding to hand it.

“We’ll just maneuver it so that you all can then,” she said. “Linda is obviously the smallest and then Bob since he hasn’t hit his growth spurt, but Susan has. So they’ll be inside. Then Susan and Gordon can sleep next to them. If we do it right, there won’t be much of a difference. Now, can we stop trying to fight and get some sleep?”

“Yes, Penelope,” they all answered. Bob looked at her.

“You don’t like a lot of contact,” he mentioned.

“You won’t be kids forever,” she answered. “I’m putting up with it. Now stop arguing, get the light turned off, and get in bed before I decide to put the four of you outside with Big Bird.”

They did as she asked before she could complain a second time. Her idea worked and she looked over at Barkley, signing for him to lie down. Gordon quickly got up and turned off the light once everyone was settled. He curled back down and Penelope waited until they fell asleep before finally letting herself drift off.

***

Alan gently motioned for the others to follow him after a little time had passed. As he guessed, the movement and noise being sudden woke back up Gina who looked apologetic and began to pick everything up. Alan moved to help her. “Sorry, Alan,” she said.

“You can’t help it,” he reminded her. “And it gave everyone a break.”

She gave him a relieved smile as David looked at him. “Can we test the oven by making cake?”

“No,” Alan said. “Bedtime.”

There was a round of groaning which he quickly held his hands up to stop. “Gina just fell asleep,” he reminded them. “We need to get back to the apartment and I don’t think the rest of you can play quietly.”

“Yes we can,” David argued. Alan absolutely took that as proof that they couldn’t.

“We’ll see when we get to the apartment,” he said instead. Like Penelope, he was going to split them up with girls in one room and boys in the other. It wasn’t like that would split up the couples considering that four out of five of them were in a relationship with each other when they were adults, but they were all children and it just felt less weird to do it this way. Like Penelope, he also intended to sleep on David, Luis, and Maria’s couch.

He herded the five of them up the stairs and shut the door behind him. He could handle this. And if he couldn’t, Penelope was pretty much down the hall. Still, she had her own four to deal with. They all looked at him. “Gina,” he said, going with the easiest one first. “Why don’t you get ready for bed?”

“Which room?” She asked. He motioned to the master bedroom. Their bed would be larger than Gabi’s and there were three girls and two boys. David moved to argued and Olivia moved to intercept causing David to stop. Considering that Maria’s eyes had narrowed as well, it was probably a wise choice. He was getting that David just wanted to argue about something anyway, regardless of what that might have been. 

“Well, I think I’m going to head to bed too,” Olivia said. Alan looked at her in surprise. “You’re fun to mess with, but it’s sweet how nice you’ve been. Besides, I don’t want to wake up Gina.”

She gave him a subtle wink, which he felt confused over until Maria’s eyes flared. “Luis, David, go to bed,” she said firmly. “You’ll wake Gina up.”

Luis absolutely had no wish to interfere with his wife at the moment and grabbed David by the wrist. “Come on.”

“We wouldn’t have woken her up We can be quiet,” David said. Luis snorted.

“No we can’t,” he said. “When we were animals, how many times did you knock over that lamp?”

“You knocked it over too!” He argued.

“And then you told on me to Gabi,” Luis reminded him. Still, Luis was having less trouble getting him to follow. Alan felt like he’d been right the first time. David just wanted to argue about something and Luis gave it to him. He rested on the couch when Maria came back out. She headed over to him and took his hand, leading him back into their room.

“Maria?” Alan asked. “What are you doing?”

“Teaching you have to put children to bed,” she said. Olivia apparently found the entire thing endearing considering that she didn’t put a stop to it. “So, you can either read or sing.”

“What?” Alan asked. Olivia smiled.

“We always did it for Gabi. And we do it for Big Bird,” she reminded him. “And Gina is still very little.”

“Gina is trying to sleep,” the youngest member grumbled. “Just sing something so they’ll stop talking, Alan.”

“I, uh, okay,” Alan said, choosing a simple lullaby and sing it. Maria mimicked putting the blankets over them and he did so. She signed for him to head out and turn out the light while still singing. He did, shut the door, and headed into the boys room.

It was fortunate he did as their squabble had turned into a full fledged pillow fight. He groaned and knocked. “Guys? Guys, come on. You’re supposed to be sleeping,” he pleaded. “The girls are sleeping.”

“We’re not tired,” David said, throwing the pillow in Luis’ direction. Fortunately, they hadn’t knocked over any of their daughter’s things.

“I’m tired,” Alan admitted. “Please go to sleep.”

“Just a little longer?” Luis asked. “I mean, we’re in the bedroom.”

“Now,” Alan said. He decided to level with them. “I really don’t want to call Penelope. I want to show her I can handle this.”

Both boys stopped and looked at each other before looking back at Alan. “Okay.”

“That’s it? Okay?” He asked. David shrugged.

“We had the same conversation with Gabi, though she couldn’t answer yet, about Gordon,” David said. “She was crying and she wouldn’t stop. Maria just wanted to sleep for five minutes and Luis and I told her we could handle the baby.”

“And we were about ready to call Gordon because we didn’t know what we were doing,” Luis concluded.

“Lot of good it would have done us,” David scoffed. “He told us later that he had no idea what he was doing either. But we get it.”

“So you’ll go to sleep?” Alan asked.

“We’ll go to sleep,” Luis promised. Alan relaxed. He started for the door.

“Uh… do you two need a story or a song too?” He asked.

“Not tonight,” Luis assured him. “Good night, Alan.”

“Good night, Alan,” David repeated. Both of them climbed under the covered and Alan turned off the light.

“Good night,” he said. He was relieved enough to pretend like he didn’t notice that they were sneaking around in the night. Nor did he make a fuss when he found them all curled up in Luis, Maria, and David’s bed like a bunch of kittens. He just let them get away with it and enjoyed the lack of chaos that would surely continue later.


	4. Breakfast and Police

Penelope made it down to Hooper’s with her pack of jackals before Alan so she decided to start to work on breakfast for them. She put the breakfast she’d made for Mr. Hooper to the side and looked at the four before her. “What do you want to eat?” She asked and signed. 

“Pancakes!” Bob exclaimed, far too happy for this early in the morning. He’d also been far too happy over the night before and she noticed that he tentatively was pushing his limits with hugging her. True to her word, she hadn’t complained which just made him even more giddy and insufferable. Not that she intended to pull back.

_“Pancakes are fine.”_ Linda agreed. Unlike her long-time boyfriend, Linda was far less chirpy and still waking up. Still, Penelope had had to stop her from causing trouble already that morning when she’d tried to get up into the cupboard by climbing. Apparently, Penelope putting things she didn’t want them to get into onto the high shelves meant nothing when it came to coffee.

“May I have a hard boiled egg and some fruit?” Susan asked. Penelope didn’t bother to hold back her snort.

“You’re ten, you know,” she said. “You can actually eat something unhealthy instead of being a nurse.”

“I’ve seen what you eat when you think Mr. Hooper isn’t looking,” Susan scolded. “He didn’t teach you to make black and white cookies so you could eat them for breakfast.”

“Well, that was short-sighted of him,” Penelope answered.

“Penelope…” Susan said firmly.

“I’m going to make your ridiculously healthy breakfast. What more do you want?” She asked.

“For you to eat better for your health!” Susan said.

“We’re immortal. I don’t think I need to worry about too many cookies anymore,” Penelope quipped before turning her attention to Gordon before Susan could try to mother her some more. “What do you want to eat, Gordon?”

“An omelette,” Gordon answered with a smirk. Penelope firmly believed he went through the options to find the most difficult thing he could. She was not, however, about to let him beat her.

“How many eggs?” She answered lazily. This had the intended effect of knocking the wind out of Gordon’s sails as he smiled sheepishly at her.

“Three,” he answered. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, giving him a smile back. He chose everything else he wanted in it. 

“Did you need help?” He asked.

“No thank you. Try to keep Linda out of the coffee, please,” she answered and he nodded. She got to work on their meals, concentrating to the point where she didn’t notice Alan come in. She glanced over to see the kids catching up with each other and looked at Alan.

“How did it go last night?” She asked.

“Mostly fine,” he answered. “I got them to bed.”

“Do I need to talk to any of them?” She asked.

“No,” he answered. She nodded, moving over so he could help. “Did your night go well?”

“I had to sleep on the floor,” she answered.

“Why?” Alan asked and she rolled her eyes.

“Because they wanted to cuddle,” she answered.

“With you?” He asked, sounding a bit skeptical.

“I’m endearing,” she answered dryly. As he started to look apologetic, she quickly let him off the hook. “I don’t know why they did either. I think it’s because I’m letting them cuddle with me more and they’re taking advantage of the situation.”

Alan paused. “I thought you liked them.”

“I do,” she answered. “I’m just not a physical person. It makes being aromantic far easier.”

Alan paused. “Bob’s Uncle Wally didn’t seem to mind when he visited.”

“Not every person who is aromantic is the same, Alan,” she reminded him. “Of course I like them. I would do anything for them. I moved here even. But in several decades, I still haven’t gotten to the point where I enjoy much more than a pat on the back.”

Alan gave her a small smile. “Considering how they are, that must be hard.”

“They’re good about it,” she answered. “Say, can you do that pancake flip in the air thing?”

He paused and picked up the pan, easily doing as she asked. He watched her grin at it and looked at her. “Mr. Hooper won’t flip it that way for you?”

“No. He did at first, but he got sick of us asking for it. It’s more fun for him when he does it randomly because he has a large unsuspecting audience. And David isn’t allowed to in the store,” she answered. Alan’s eyes widened and he started to look hurt, as if she’d tricked him. She quickly put a hand up. “He couldn’t do it to begin with. Bob and I convinced him to keep trying. Let’s just say that there was a lot of cleaning to do, needing to get new supplies for pancakes, Bob and I got banned for a week, and Mr. Hooper was unhappy.”

“If he couldn’t do it, why did you keep trying?” Alan asked.

“Because it’s important to practice,” David said from the doorway. Penelope just nodded in agreement. “And because Penelope really gets a kick out of it and Bob was enjoying trying to help.”

“It’s not like we let Gordon try,” Bob said from the doorway.

“Well no,” Penelope said. “None of us wanted food poisoning.”

“I can hear you two!” Gordon said from a distance. David looked back at him.

“They weren’t whispering! Take a hint and learn to cook!” He called back. Penelope considered interjecting but decided against it. Since Gordon hadn’t fired back, she was guessing that Susan was soothing his ruffled feathers. She did start handing out breakfast as they finished and her expression became serious once more.

“Gabi and Miles are supposed to call today,” she said softly, not wanting to alert the others. Alan’s eyes widened.

“What do we tell them?” He asked.

“The truth,” she answered. “They’ll find out eventually and it’s in our best interest to just tell them when they call.”

He sighed, but nodded. “Okay,” he answered. “What if they want to come home early?”

“There is no one to pick them up unless it is an emergency and they’ll be back tomorrow,” she answered. “Hopefully, Mumford will be back by then. I really don’t want to find out what Linda and Gabi can accomplish together right now.”

Alan looked like he didn’t want to think about it. They glanced out to see the kids eating and not currently causing trouble. Penelope relaxed. Other than the teens, who she didn’t expect down here too soon, breakfast was done. There was the question of how to handle keeping an eye on the many kids. Even if they were with together now, the minute they decided to cause some trouble, they’d split up and like it or not, there just weren’t enough adults right now to counter it. She needed a way for them to stick together and a way to find out if something was happening. She grinned when she figured out the solution.

“I’ll be back in a minute. Can you make sure none of them sneak off?” She asked.

“Sure, but where are you going?” He asked.

“To get someone who will let us know when they’re doing something they aren’t supposed to. They’ll ignore Susan trying to stop them. Gina is too little to come and get us on her own. So I need someone who they won’t be willing to leave behind and will be willing to tell me everything,” she answered, leaving Alan to look a little confused.

***

When everything was said and done, Alan was nearly certain that they were going to owe a lot to Big Bird. Penelope was right in grabbing him. He couldn’t keep a secret and none of the adults even as children would abandon their large feathered son. Penelope actually looked almost relaxed when the teens came in, smiling at them.

Alan felt a bit of surprise that they all looked so awake. Then again, decades of waking up early most likely was ingrained by this point so they’d probably been up early. The fact that Penelope didn’t look upset meant that they hadn’t done anything she disapproved of. She looked at Mac and Willy. “Do you two still want pancakes?” She asked.

“Yes, please,” Willy answered, yawning. Mac just nodded his agreement.

“We have the mix made up already since some of the younger kids wanted it. What kind of eggs do you want, Harriet?” She continued.

“Sunny side up,” Harriet answered. Mr. Hooper stood back and Penelope headed over to the fridge and pulled out a wrapped item, handing it to him.

“I made it in my apartment,” she said quietly. “It was the easiest thing to make and save until you woke up.”

He looked at it and then back at her giving her a thankful smile. “Thank you, Penelope.”

She waved it off, but smiled back before heading back into her agent persona. “Just don’t eat before everyone else. It’s rude.”

“Didn’t I give you that speech a month ago?” Mr. Hooper asked.

“I’m certain you did,” she answered.

“Did you listen to me?” He asked.

“I ignored you completely,” she answered again. “But I’m making Harriet’s breakfast last so…”

“You play dirty,” he informed her.

“Considering you taught me how to play, you have no one to blame but yourself,” she answered. He snorted and went to sit down while Penelope went to work starting on their breakfast. Alan easily joined her. 

It was after breakfast that things became more difficult. The four of them nodded to each other before making their way back to the two adults. Penelope looked at them. “Don’t tell me you’re still hungry,” she sighed.

“No,” Harriet said before continuing. “We want to leave the street for a bit.”

Alan stood back. Sure, if she asked for it, he would give her all of the support she wanted, from as far away as possible, but she hadn’t asked for it. Instead, she just looked at the four teens before her. “You four want to what?”

“Leave the street,” Harriet said calmly. “We have my truck. It can fit all four of us. And I have my license. At long as Mac isn’t driving, we’re all old enough to.”

“I’m not that much younger,” Mac said, folding his arms. “But Harriet’s already given me the ‘not the point and if I catch you driving my truck, you’d better hope Penelope gets to you first’ talk.”

Alan couldn’t stop the giggle from getting out. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to notice. Penelope sighed. “I’m not sure if leaving the Street is a good idea.”

Alan agreed with her completely. Then again, if they didn’t get off the street, he didn’t want to find out how they could get in trouble on the street either. It really felt like a catch 22 right now. Harriet pushed forward. “We’re teenagers, not children, Penelope. We can let you know if we get into trouble.”

She glanced at Alan who gave a slight shrug. He wasn’t too sure which way to go with this either. After some thought, Penelope conceded. “Alright,” she said. “But not too late and you get back here before dinner.”

Harriet squeezed Penelope’s hands. “Thank you,” she said before heading off. Mac and Willy repeated it and Mr. Hooper gave her a quick nod. Alan waited.

“You gave in pretty quickly,” he said. She sighed.

“I wasn’t sure what to do,” she admitted. “And they would have just caused trouble if I would have made them stay.”

He nodded. “I think so too, but what if they get into trouble out there?”

“Hopefully they’re smart enough to get out of it or they’ll call,” she answered. “And hopefully they won’t get into it.”

He didn’t answer considering he had very little faith in that outcome. Then again, it sounded like Penelope had little faith in that outcome either. They would both be proven right shortly after as they were cleaning up a mess that David had gotten into. Gina was with him, technically, and she was the only reason why they knew he had dumped two bags of flour on himself trying to climb up the shelves again.

“Why?” Penelope just asked, looking at him. Alan had already gone to go get some rags to clean David and the mess up with though he still overheard the conversation.

“I wanted to get Gina a snack,” he answered.

“I didn’t need a snack,” Gina said. “Which I told him.”

David looked at Penelope stubbornly. “She’s three and it’s late morning and she needed a snack.”

Penelope kneeled down to Gina, leaving David to Alan who had come back. “Are you hungry?” 

Her voice wasn’t gentle and demanded an answer. Alan was starting to understand why she’d left Gina in his care. Gina sighed. “Maybe a little?”

“Then you need to eat,” Penelope answered. “I’ll get you an apple.”

Before she could, the phone rang. Alan headed toward him, leaving his post with David, but Penelope sighed and held up a hand to him. She pointed to the apple as she moved to the phone. 

“I've got the phone, you grab David and feed Gina,” she instructed. Alan nodded as she picked up the phone, though he was keeping one ear open as he ignored David's complaints on the situation.

“What do you mean you're in jail?!” She exclaimed. David's attention happily shifted from Alan to Penelope which was fine because so did Alan's. He should probably remind her not to yell so loud when the kids could hear her, but Penelope seemed to be far too surprised. “What did you do, Willy? Is this why you're calling me? Because Mr. Hooper and Mr. Macintosh think I won't yell at you?”

Alan noted that that wasn't true. He tapped David's arm and pointed toward the door. David glared. “I want to know why Grandma is in jail.”

“David, please leave,” Alan said, ushering him toward the door. He did the same for Gina who at least looked like she was trying not to listen to Penelope’s half of the conversation, handing her the apple on the way out. She wasn't happy about it, but she followed David. “And neither of you listen to Linda!”

Penelope slammed the phone down, rubbing her temples and reaching for the file she’d set up on this fiasco as well as on the paperwork that might be needed. He had wondered if she was overreacting when he’d caught her working on it early, but with the teens in jail, he was more grateful for it now. She looked at Alan. “I need to go bail your boss out of jail,” she said sardonically.

“Why is he my boss when he's in jail?” Alan asked. “He's the lead protector too which would make him your boss.”

“He is not my boss,” Penelope said firmly. “And did you honestly just pull the 'why is he my child when he's in trouble'?”

Alan groaned. “I did. But you did try to make him my ‘child’ first,” he said, putting his head in his hands. She patted his arm sympathetically.

“We both deserve a vacation,” she said soothingly. “But for now, I need you to watch the horde until I get back. Hopefully, I can get this situated since our lawyer is seven.”

Alan just nodded.

***

Penelope stormed into the police station. Of course it was this one. Part of her tried to remind to herself that it had been decades since Cookie Monster had been arrested and the police here hadn't given her any trouble since. The other part of her felt completely justified in wanting to terrify whoever was in charge. Instead, she headed to the desk. “I'm here to pick up four teens,” she said.

“Are you their guardian?”

“Yes.”

“And your relation to them?”

“I’m their daughter, step-daughter, and niece,” she said. “Depending on one which we're talking about.”

The man glared at her. “I don't have time for this.”

“Neither do I. And yet, I'm here,” she said. The man was already on the phone with his superior as Penelope calmly waited. The sergeant made his way toward her and she turned her faux smile to him.

“I hear you're causing trouble,” he said. Penelope sighed.

“I answered the question. I have one. Why were they arrested anyway?” She asked.

“Driving without a license and carrying fake IDs,” the sergeant answered. Penelope sighed. Of course they hadn't been doing anything. Granted, it would have been a matter of time before they had done something warranting a trip to the police station, but still.

“I can understand the mix up, but they weren't fake IDs,” she said politely.

“You're telling me that they were born in the 1800s?” He asked.

“We decided we weren't going to lie about our ages,” she answered. “Can I talk to my father, step-mother, and uncles, please?”

The sergeant shrugged. “It's a slow day,” he said. Penelope decided against showing her credentials at this point. He wasn't trying to arrest her yet after all and the more information she could gather first, the better control of the situation she'd have later. She ignored the fact that she was looking for an excuse to not make this easier on everyone due to the fact that the sergeant was really annoying her. The four teens fortunately hadn't been locked up which she was grateful for. Unlike most kids in their position, none of them looked repentant but rather annoyed at the situation.

The sergeant stopped in front of them and looked at her. “Now, let's try this again. Are you their guardian?”

“Regrettably,” she answered, ignoring their protests. They'd been arrested. They didn't get to protest her word choices.

“And your relationship to them?” He asked. He was waiting for her to say something different. Penelope was not in the mood to do so. She pointed at each of them in turn.

“Daughter. Step-daughter. Niece. Niece,” she answered.

“Ma'am...”

“I thought I'd be accurate.”

“If you're being accurate, then you'd note that I'm not married to Harriet so how can she be your step-mother?” He asked.

“Because I am,” Harriet said firmly.

“There, see? It's not my fault that you two never got married in the decades you've been dating,” Penelope said. “And since marriage isn't the only way of showing love, which you know, Harriet is absolutely my step-mother.”

Mac was hiding his face in Willy's shirt while Willy was trying to hide the fact that he was laughing. It wasn't working for either of them. Mr. Hooper glared at her. “You choose now to get a sense of humor?” He demanded. She may have answered back, slightly insulted, if Harriet hadn't gotten there first.

“Are you saying that your kids aren't my kids now? Sure, I go with ‘grandma’ to the lot of them, but close enough,” She asked. “And would you rather I didn't claim them? Of course you wouldn't. And besides, when was the last time you or Penelope admitted that you were her father? Bob, Gordon, Susan, of course they'll admit it. The others see you as a grandfather and will admit it. But how often with this one?”

“‘This one’ is standing right here,” Penelope said dryly.

“That's beside the point,” Mr. Hooper said simultaneously.

“The answer is never,” Mac and Willy chirped together. Mr. Hooper glared at them as Penelope just looked uncomfortable. 

“Enough!” The sergeant snapped. “If you don't tell me the truth, then I am not going to release them into your custody!”

“Sergeant Watters?” A voice spoke out, entering the room as a woman stepped into view. “Justin mentioned you might need my help?”

Sergeant Watters relaxed a bit at the newcomer and motioned to them. “I'm having some trouble with some teenagers and their supposed guardian.”

Penelope went to protest when the other woman saw her. “Agent Carson!”

“Agent?” The sergeant demanded. Penelope nodded before turning her attention to the other. It wasn’t like she had come in bragging about being an agent and she didn’t recognize the younger woman.

“Yes?” She said slowly, looking a little wary considering they weren't on the street at the moment.

“It's Patty,” she said enthusiastically. Penelope blinked and looked to see the girl who had lived on the street so long ago all grown up. Penelope looked surprised.

“You're a cop?” She asked.

“Social worker,” she answered. Penelope gave a hint of a smile.

“You good at it?” She asked. She knew that Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy were equally interested. Harriet as well, but she just didn't know Patty as well.

“I think so,” she answered. “I’ve helped a lot of kids.”

Penelope's smile increased. “Ridiculous question on my part. Of course you’re good at it. You handled the situation with Big Bird very well for a girl your age. Look, can you get us out of here?”

“What's going on?” Patty asked. Sergeant Watters glared at Penelope before turning back to Patty.

“We arrested these four for driving without a license and carrying fake IDs. 'Agent' Carson came to get them and has been giving us the runaround,” he grumbled. Patty looked at Penelope.

“Agen… Penelope?” She asked, switching to the more personal term now that Penelope recognized her.

“They asked for my relation to the four of them,” she said easily. “I told them that they are my father, my step-mother, and my uncles.”

Patty's eyes widened. She looked between them and focused her gaze. “Mr. Hooper?” She nearly squeaked.

“Hello, Patty,” he said. “Penelope decided to be a brat.”

“I decided to be truthful,” she said. “You're always telling me not to lie and I prefer to be accurate.”

“Penelope?” Patty said slowly. “Why didn't you just show your credentials?”

“I thought it best to examine the situation before I did so,” she answered. “I would have if you hadn't arrived.”

“Before or after you were arrested?” Patty asked dryly. Penelope shrugged.

“That's debatable. I'm sure you remember Mr. Macintosh and Willy?” She said, motioning to them.

“I do,” Patty said, waving to them as they waved back. Patty looked at the fourth. “Harriet, right?”

“That's right,” Harriet said with a smile. “And I'm sure Penelope would have pulled the papers out before they got the cuffs on her, don't you worry.”

“Thank you, Harriet. It's nice to know someone has faith in me,” Penelope said, looking straight at Mr. Hooper. Before they could start another argument which Harriet had absolutely purposefully instigated, Patty intervened by looking at the sergeant.

“She's telling the truth. Well, Mr. Hooper isn't her biological father, but close enough. Same with the other three. There's just one thing I'm curious about. Why do you all look like teenagers?” She asked.

“Magic,” all five answered at once.

“Magic,” Sergeant Watters said dryly. Patty looked at Penelope.

“Please tell me it only hit them,” she pleaded. Penelope gave her a gentle smile and pulled out her credentials and papers she had grabbed from her file, handing them to her.

“Unfortunately not,” Penelope answered. “But after my incident involving magic and becoming a child, we put protocols into place in case it happened again. There is all the paperwork naming Alan and I as their legal guardians. I assure you, we have it handled. Other than the fact that I had to leave him alone with the rest of the Protectors to pick up these trouble makers. If I promise to ground them, can I take them home?”

“You can take them home anyway,” Patty said. “It seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“Did you just try to ground us?” Mr. Hooper demanded.

“Specifically you. I know whose idea it would have been.”

“Harriet's?” Mr. Hooper asked, looking bemused.

“Hers or yours and she was defending me so I'm likely to go easier on her,” Penelope said delightedly. Mac and Willy were trying not to laugh again, but completely lost it when Harriet stuck her tongue out at her long-time boyfriend.

“Penelope...”

“You shouldn't use that tone with me right now,” Penelope warned him before smiling at Patty. “Thank you. You should probably come visit. You've been missed.”

“I'll keep it in mind,” she said before looking mock-serious. “Go easy on them. They're only about a hundred.”

“I'll consider it,” she answered, shaking the social worker's hand. Once she was done, she turned to the officer, neither side bothering to shake hands. “Have a nice day, Sergeant. Hopefully I won't have to deal with your precinct for another fifty years.”

Mac looked at her and laughed. “This was the same group who arrested Cookie Monster?”

“Yep,” she answered. Mr. Hooper looked at Patty.

“And now you know the real reason she didn't show her credentials,” he said. “They aren't even the same officers, Penelope.”

“I have no regrets,” Penelope answered, leading them back upstairs and stopping by the desk. “I'm going to need the keys to their car. And Harriet will be driving it home so please don't arrest her. I'd hate to have my day interrupted a second time. I'll have to bring David if that happens.”

The sergeant opened his mouth, having followed her up, but Patty touched his arm. “Trust me,” she hissed. “Let this one go.”

The keys were returned and Penelope gently handed them back to Harriet. She led them outside. “In light of circumstances, I'm not going to ground you,” she said.

“Good because we didn't do anything,” Mr. Hooper reminded her. Willy was trying to shush him, giving Penelope the placating look of a teen who was trying not to make a situation worse.

“You would have,” she said. “It was just a matter of time.”

“Hey!” Mac said. She looked at him and he shrugged. “Okay, so you're right. But you still shouldn't ground us.”

“And I won't,” she said. “But, I also would appreciate it if the four of your stayed on the Street from this point on. Alan and I are already outnumbered and I hate having to make it worse on him.”

They all agreed and Harriet glanced at her. “And what about making it worse on you?”

“This is in my wheelhouse and I probably deserve what I get,” she answered. “He doesn’t. Let's go home.”

Harriet, Mac, and Willy headed toward her truck while Mr. Hooper stayed back a bit. She spoke up quietly before he did. “So,” she said. “Since it won't happen anyway, how far away from doing something ridiculous were you?”

“That's not important,” he answered, telling her what she wanted to know: That she would have been at that police station at some point today regardless of what it was over. “You caused that much fuss because Cookie Monster was arrested years ago?”

“Sounds like what I did,” she answered. Mr. Hooper grinned at her, looking nearly all teenager without any of the responsibility he often had.

“I have to say I'm impressed,” he said before heading to the car. She just shook her head and followed after, rolling her eyes at the three men yelling that they wanted the front seat. She considered reminding them to go straight home and decided against it. They'd do it even if their somewhat teenage brains wanted them to drive to Jersey instead. She could trust them.

***

Alan watched as the four headed back onto the street, none of them looking too worse for wear and Penelope followed looking only mildly annoyed. As he continued to look at her, he considered that she even looked proud of herself. He was going to have to ask, but hopefully he only got the most basic of answers since he didn’t want to know. Unfortunately, since he noticed, so did the others. On the plus side, it was much easier to keep an eye on them when they were all focused on questioning the teens.

“Grandma!” David called out, getting there first. “Penelope and Alan said you got arrested!”

Mr. Hooper glared at both Penelope, who ignore him, and Alan who looked sheepish. “You told them?”

“Not exactly,” Alan said quickly. “David and Gina were in the room when Harriet called.”

“It wasn’t that exciting,” Harriet told her grandson. “The police officers made a bit of a mistake.”

“What kind of mistake?” David asked, his excitement turning far more professional which unnerved Alan. He absolutely believed that David would be willing to march down there and give them a piece of his mind, child-body or not. Penelope just smiled at him, though that didn’t really comfort Alan either.

“It’s taken care of,” she assured him. “If they hadn’t heeded my warning, I would have come to find you.”

“She absolutely threatened one of the officers with you,” Mac said unhelpfully. Alan was starting to wonder if maybe he should have gone instead. Then again, none of them looked worried about any of it. David stood up proud at that. Harriet beamed at her grandson.

“I always said it would be good to have a lawyer in the family,” she soothed.

“That still doesn’t explain how you got arrested,” Gordon said, bringing them back on track.

“Well,” Mac hedged. “They thought we were, uh, breaking a law and we weren’t.”

“What kind of law?” Luis pushed.

“Well, they pulled me over because they thought I switched lanes too quickly,” she said. “It was just a reason to check to make sure I wasn’t drunk.”

“And?” Maria said from behind Luis.

“And they asked for our licenses,” Willy answered. There was silence for a moment before a small sound of laughter came from the group of younger children. All of them turned to see Linda as Bob had been translating for her. She looked straight at Willy.

_“You don’t even have a beard.”_ She informed him. Susan’s hand flew to her mouth, the next to realize exactly why they had been arrested.

“You used your licenses?” She asked.

“They were the only ones we had!” Mac argued.

“You’re over 100!” Gina reminded them.

“No wonder you were in jail,” David said.

“They weren’t in a cell, David,” Penelope scolded. “They just assumed that they were playing a prank, fortunately, and they were waiting for their guardian to come and claim them and the car and explain that driver’s licenses work better when they’re believable.”

“So that’s what you did,” Susan said. Harriet burst out laughing.

“Penelope is the reason why it took so long,” she said.

“She was being difficult,” Mr. Hooper gruffed and Alan was pretty sure the older man looked impressed before he hid it.

“It turned out fine and this has been the best day of my life in a long time,” Penelope said, brushing it off.

“Did you try to argue that you were the head of Sesame Street?” Bob asked Mr. Hooper excitedly.

“That’s not important,” Mr. Hooper said. Bob’s eyes lit up.

“You did!” He said.

“You’re sixteen,” Gordon argued. “I don’t think you count as in charge right now.”

“Just because I look like a teen doesn’t mean I’m not in charge,” he grumbled.

“Mac tried to slip out the back while Mr. Hooper was arguing,” Willy added. “It didn’t work.”

“It would have if you and Harriet hadn’t grabbed me,” Mac exclaimed. Harriet rolled her eyes.

“I am pretty sure one of the many cops would have stopped you and then Penelope would have had a real fight on her hands,” Harriet answered.

“I can’t believe you got arrested,” Susan said.

“I can’t believe it took them so long,” Gordon snorted.

“I can’t believe it was over something so simple,” David said. “At least get arrested for causing a riot or something.”

“No riots,” Penelope said way too lazily. “And before you give them more ideas, we saw Patty today.”

All of them paused. Alan had no idea who Patty was, but Penelope seemed to know her audience. Gordon beamed.

“How is she?” He asked.

_“Why was she at the police station?”_ Linda asked.

“Does she need help?” David asked. Penelope snorted.

“She’s fine,” she answered. “She’s a social worker. They called her in to deal with the situation when I was being, uh, truthful.”

As Penelope fielded questions, Alan made his way over to Mr. Hooper who was standing back at watching. Harriet had an arm around David, letting him know she was back and safe. Willy and Mac were interjecting when they felt it was necessary and the other kids were enraptured, other than Gina who still seemed happy that the rest of them were happy.

“So, are we going to have to deal with the police coming here?” He asked nervously. He would have waited to ask Penelope, but Mr. Hooper probably would have a better assessment at the moment.

“No,” Mr. Hooper answered. “She just decided to pick today to be completely honest instead of just showing her credentials and getting us home.”

“How?” Alan asked. Mr. Hooper rolled his eyes.

“They asked her how she was related to each of us. She chose to use familial terms,” he answered. Alan felt confused.

“She said she was your mother?” He asked.

“That would have been lying,” he answered. “Try it the other way.”

Alan blinked. “Oh,” he answered. “Isn’t that not quite the truth either?”

“Close enough,” Mr. Hooper said.

“Are you mad at her?” Alan asked, needing to know if he needed to intervene and take over the teens from Penelope for the day.

“She got us back. Everything she did was out of a sense of indignance for her family. None of what she said hurt anyone but it was a good prank. And she had fun,” Mr. Hooper said. “No. I’m not mad.”

He left it at that, but Alan could hear the pride in his voice. Alan relaxed. “That’s good,” he said.

Mr. Hooper looked at him. “The Street didn’t burn down while she was gone. All of the kids are still here. And it looks like the kids are somewhat listening to you. Good job.”

It may have seemed like a low bar at first, but Alan understood the meaning behind it. He felt himself standing a bit taller, even if he felt completely overwhelmed and was extremely grateful that Penelope had returned.


	5. Explanations and Hospitals

It wasn't long at all before Gabi and Miles decided to call in to talk to their parents. They had called Hooper's, fortunately, after they couldn't reach their parents at their apartments nor the Fix-It Shop. Alan had answered and was looking a bit overwhelmed, understandably if the kids were worried. Penelope took the phone, nodding to Alan in reassurance that she would handle it and spoke. "Hi Miles," she said. "I take it Gabi is there too?"

"Penelope? We can't reach any of our parents," Miles said without greeting her. She quickly decided to cut him off before he worked himself into a frenzy.

"It's okay, Miles," she said gently. "They're safe. Everyone is okay."

"But..." Gabi said waiting for Penelope to continue. Well, she was right about both of them being on the phone then.

"But there was a little bit of an accident and they're all stuck as kids right now," Penelope answered.

"What?" Miles asked.

"Mumford was working on a spell and it affected the grown-ups that were on the Street," she answered.

"So, everyone except you? You're trying to watch all of our parents on your own?" Miles asked skeptically.

"And Alan. And I'm not sure I like that implication, Miles Robinson. I have everything under control," she said. "Well, we do anyway. But yes, all of your parents, Gina, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Macintosh, Willy, and Harriet are all of various ages under 18," she answered.

"So when are you going to come get us?" Gabi asked and Penelope snorted.

"Gabi, I just told you that I'm trying to watch 13 kids not to mention Big Bird and the other kids running around and you think I have time to add two more? You both are supposed to be there until the bus brings you back tonight. If they are still children, you can see it then and not a minute before," she said sternly. There was silence for a minute and she sighed. She'd been dealing with kids who were actually adults for too long or she wouldn't have been that harsh about it. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. Look, both of you, I promise that everything is okay right now. And we will let you know if anything changes, but I really need you both to just not push right now, okay? Please?"

"You sound exhausted," Miles told her. "You need help."

"You're right. I'm tired. We're tired, but we're also handling it. Go have fun at your field trip and I'll let you know what happens," she promised.

"Okay..." Gabi said, not sounding sure at all.

"You're eating?" Miles asked and she didn't bother to hide her smile.

"I'm eating. I slept. They're just keeping me busy," she answered. "Just... Bob and Linda are ten and seven. Mr. Hooper is sixteen. Gina is four."

"Yeah, I can see why you don't want Gabi to come home right now," Miles answered.

"Hey!" Gabi complained. "I wouldn't be that bad!"

"Yes you would," Miles and Penelope said at the same time.

"Fine," Gabi pouted. "But take pictures? Because I really want to see."

"And let us know if anything happens," Miles instructed. "Did you call in reinforcements?"

"We can't reach anyone," Penelope answered. "Now, are you two going to be okay?"

"We'll be okay," Miles answered. "We're just worried about all of you."

"We'll be fine," she said. "I look forward to seeing you both tonight."

"Call us if anything happens," Gabi instructed. "And take pictures! And tell my parents I love them."

"I will the minute I'm off the phone," she promised.

"Tell them I love them too," Miles said.

"I will," she said. "Be good. Try not to cause trouble that I have to use my badge to bail you out for and have fun. I love you both."

"Love you too!" Both of them stated and hung up. Penelope relaxed a bit, meeting Alan's eyes.

"They'll stay there. They aren't happy about it. We need to take pictures," she said. Alan didn't bother to hide his amused smile. She shared it. "Where are the kids anyway?"

"Outside. They wanted to play a game and Big Bird is with them," he answered. "Except for the teens. They're all in their apartments right now."

Penelope nodded. She didn't expect to see them again for a while and she was also guessing that they were all in one apartment at the moment. For all that it had ended well, she couldn't imagine that Mr. Hooper at the very least was feeling the need to lick his wounds right now. She understood that completely considering that she got the same way. She felt for each of them. She looked over to see if they should start on a snack of some sort when she decided that she might want to check on the others instead. She headed outside just in time to catch Linda who was trying to swing from one of the trees. She'd left them alone for two minutes and Linda was in a tree. Of course. 

_"What are you doing?"_ She signed after setting her down.

_"We are playing circus! I'm an acrobat!"_ Linda answered. Penelope groaned.

_"Be an acrobat on the ground!"_ She ordered. Honestly. An acrobat. Before they could continue the conversation, she heard a scream. Her heart nearly stopped. She rushed out to find the source of it, forgetting to let Linda know what was going on and nearly tripped over Bob who looked like he had somehow managed to trip over and thus half in to a flower pot. He wasn't crying, not yet and she wondered if it had just startled him. Penelope raced after to him. He was blinking owlishly as if he was surprised too and clutching his arm to him. Finally, she could see the beginning of tears and realized that this was a lot worse than usual. 

“Susan!” She nearly screamed, panic starting to take over. It was fine. He just needed a nurse. She felt the slight touch on her arm and looked to see Alan looking at her worriedly and motioning to where Susan was standing, looking just as shocked as Bob did. In her worry, Penelope had forgotten that Susan was also a child.

“We need to get him to the hospital,” Alan said quietly.

“Susan says we're not supposed to move people if we don't know what's wrong with them,” Penelope answered mechanically. “And I'm not a doctor. Bob?”

“My arm,” he managed to get out.

“Just your arm?” She demanded. He nodded, shock giving way to pain. She gently helped him out of the planter. She looked at the others. “What happened?”

“We were playing circus,” Maria said, looking more than a little repentant. “We had him be a lion tamer with Barkley and then he was in the planter.”

Penelope looked at Bob. “Only you could make lion taming dangerous,” she said somewhat affectionately.

“Should I stay here with the rest of the kids?” Alan asked and Penelope shook her head.

“Too many of them and I don't want multiple trips to the hospital,” she answered. He nodded his agreement. “Besides, they'll all just try to sneak of the street to see him anyway.”

“No we won't!” David said, folding his arms.

“Don't lie,” Penelope scolded. She looked around, turning to the monsters who had been playing with the others. “I want all of you to stay here since I can't ask your parents to come with. Big Bird, why don't you come with us?”

Alan nodded. “And please let Mr. Hooper and Harriet know what happened,” Alan continued. There was no arguing from the young monsters and the rest of the group took off.

***

While he was certain it was a temporary reprieve, Alan was a bit relieved that the kids were listening and not even discussing trouble. Penelope was continually checking in with Bob, glancing at Susan for what little help the girl could give her medically. Normally, Susan would have handled the situation perfectly but Alan noticed the slight shaking from the ten year old that reminded him that she wasn't able to set her feelings aside at the moment. Gordon had taken her hand and was squeezing it every so often. Linda was on the opposite side of Bob as Penelope, looking equally worried and touching the boy's upper arm as not to hurt him. Maria had taken her other hand with Olivia gently following behind to give them support. David had gotten to Maria a hair before Luis had, not the it mattered as they made a chain. One the Alan periodically had to remind them to break to let people by.

Alan was carrying Gina in one arm and keeping a hand on Big Bird's arm with the other. Any question that Big Bird asked, Alan was quick to answer. Gina was fortunately just quiet to the point where Alan continually checked to make sure she hadn't fallen asleep. They entered into the E.R. and Alan helped wrangle the kids into various seats while Penelope had taken to the front desk with Bob.

“Name?”

“Robert Johnson,” Penelope said.

“Birth date?” The woman asked and Penelope absently rattled it off. The woman blinked. “Ma'am? I know you're worried, but I need his correct birth date so we can help your son.”

Unlike when she had been messing with the police before, Alan could tell that she was genuinely confused as she tried to rattle off the same birthdate as the receptionist had a mixed look of annoyance and sympathy. Alan looked at Gordon and Susan. “Try to keep them under control?” He pleaded before heading over. 

“Sir, I think your friend is a little overwhelmed,” she said, look relieved. Alan gave her a nervous smile.

“We're from Sesame Street,” he answered, hoping that that would be the right thing to say. The receptionist helping them didn't change her expression but the one next to her did.

“Erin, how about I help you with this one?” She asked politely smiling. “Erin is new here so she doesn't know about Sesame Street protocol yet. Hi Penelope. And…”

“Bob,” Bob answer for himself. The nurse blinked and looked at him more closely.

“Bob Johnson?” She asked tentatively. He nodded. “It’s good to see both of you again, well, sort of.”

Alan looked a little surprised and glanced at Penelope who looked at the woman for a moment. Bob caught it first. 

“Sally!” He exclaimed. The woman nodded and Penelope gave a quick smile.

“Magic, huh?” Sally asked.

“Mumford,” Alan, Penelope, and Bob said together.

“Well, at least it should fix itself soon. What happened?” She asked.

“Bob fell off a planter,” Penelope answered. Sally didn't even question it. Considering Penelope and Bob's recognition, Alan was guessing the woman was from Sesame Street. “I think his arm is broken.”

“What does Susan think?” Sally asked. Penelope moved to the side so that the younger woman could see. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. I'll get everything figured out. Normal Sesame Street visitation rules. And I'm marking you and...”

“Alan.”

“Alan down as his guardians for the moment,” she answered. Erin looked a little confused.

“Isn't this against the rules?” She asked. Sally smiled.

“Sesame Street works differently,” she explained. “We treat them all like one big family. It saves a lot of time and it's better for everyone. A nurse will be with you in a minute, Penelope.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Sally. It's good to see you again,” she said politely.

“Thanks, Sally,” Bob agreed. “When I'm better, I want to hear what you're up to!”

Sally grinned. “I'll be here,” she assured them.

Penelope had to drag Bob away, pleased that he was able to ignore the pain in his arm but wanting to let Sally work. Alan had made his way back to the other kids, letting them know what had happened. Susan especially seemed pleased by the announcement. The nurse called Bob back and Penelope headed back with him while Alan stayed with the others.

_“Alan?”_ Linda asked. _“Is he going to be okay?”_

Alan looked over and for once didn't see the self-confident librarian he knew. The others leaned over and from their expressions, he was reminded just how much of a family they were. “His arm should heal.”

“When Penelope was little, we were worried that her injuries might not heal right when she grew up again,” Gordon said. Susan nodded.

“Umm... isn't this a different kind of magic? Like can't Mumford take that into account?” Alan asked. There was a pause and Maria spoke up.

“What if he can't?” She asked.

“He can,” Alan said, trying to sound confident. He just wanted everything back to normal so that these questions could go to Mr. Hooper... who was probably panicking on the street. “Sally? Can I borrow your phone? I need to call Mr. Hooper.”

“Sure,” she said, handing over the phone. He dialed and hoped that Harriet would answer.

“Hello?” Mr. Hooper's voice rang through the phone. No such luck. He just had to remember that right now Mr. Hooper had already been arrested once and that he was in charge of his boss. This was why he'd been so happy that Penelope had all but claimed the teens as her problem.

“Mr. Hooper...” he started but he didn't get another word out.

“What happened? Is he okay? Why didn't you come get us?” Mr. Hooper demanded.

“We needed to get him here as quickly as we could. And you're the closest thing we have to responsible Protectors right now,” he answered. “We need you to stay there.”

“The only reason I'm still here is because the force field won't let me leave!” Mr. Hooper snarled.

“Well, that's not a bad thing.”

“Alan!”

“Penelope already bailed you out of jail once, Mr. Hooper, and she needs to focus on Bob right now,” he said. “And he's okay, but we're getting him checked over. Penelope thinks he broke his arm.”

“I should be there.”

“You should be where you are,” Alan said, trying to sound forceful. “You've helped to teach all of us. So please, let us show you that we learned something. And the rest of the kids are going to be worried. What if Gabi or Miles calls?”

“Someone else can take the call,” Mr. Hooper pushed.

“But it will be better coming from you,” Alan answered. “Now, please stay there.”

“I still think...”

“I.... I'll ground you,” Alan said as firmly as he could. He was pretty sure that silence on the other side was shock. He could understand that. He was feeling equally shocked. But he was also stuck in a hospital with several children, one of which was going to need x-rays, and Penelope had finally had a slight break-down over the situation. “Please stay there. I need to go. I'll check in later.”

Before there was a protest, he hung up the phone. He was pretty sure that Mr. Hooper wouldn't fire him over that when he got bigger again. Once again, he was regretting his decision to move to Sesame Street to begin with. There was always something going on and then the lot of them had become animals and suddenly he was having to be a full-time guardian to the protectors he knew and was friends with alongside a government agent who was known for her sarcasm. He was not cut out for this.

Yet, as he made his way back, the others were still looking at him and he realized that he'd walked out on reassuring them though none of them looked angry about it. He was guessing they'd overheard the phone call and if it helped relax them, he was fine with that. He gently picked Gina up out of Susan and Gordon's laps as she'd fell asleep during the whole thing once she was certain that Bob would be okay. He looked at Susan. “Is it normal for her to sleep this much?” He asked.

“She's little,” Susan answered. “She needs more sleep. Miles slept more when he was that age too. They have two modes: Go fast and go to sleep.”

Alan nodded and felt a head rest against his side, smiling when he saw Maria gently moving Gina's hair out of her face. The slightly older girl didn't even look up at him. “Gabi was the same way. She'd be running around with David and Luis and then one of them would have to carry her to bed.”

Gordon laughed from Susan's other side. “Miles did the same thing. Once, we got home and Bob just told us to be quiet and pointed. Gabi and Miles had worn themselves out and had fallen asleep curled up together. He had just put a blanket over them because he thought it was cute,” Gordon said affectionately. He paused and then looked at Alan. “You really think it's different this time?”

“Yes,” Alan said, trying to sound certain. Gordon gave him a tired smile.

“Okay,” he answered. Alan couldn't hide his surprise. “You're the grown-up.”

Alan swallowed. “That's that?”

“Yep,” Gordon said leaned in so the others couldn't hear. “Just keep sounding sure and they won't doubt it.”

Alan was even more worried now that he knew just how Gordon handled it and decided that that was not how Mr. Hooper handled things. It would help him keep calm to believe that at least one person on this street wasn't making it up as they went along. Still, Gordon was right as the rest of the kids looked a lot calmer after his more decisive yes. He made a note to use it with the monsters and the kids on the Street more often. After all, he was staying on Sesame Street even if he sometimes wondered why.

***

Bob was swinging his legs and humming as he sat on the table. Penelope was too relieved that he was more like himself that she didn't bother to complain about the latter. They'd given him some medicine to help with the pain and the doctor would be in soon enough. Penelope forced back the sigh of impatience she was feeling. Still, she needed something to take her mind off it. “So how did you go from lion taming with Barkley to falling off a flower planter?”

“Barkley and I were training and he wasn't listening. So, I kept trying and then I thought that maybe it was because I was too short and he couldn't see me so I climbed on the flower planter,” he said. Penelope groaned.

“When they give you something to do that do not involve climbing on things, listen to them!” She instructed. “And when we get back, no more circus.”

“Ah come on, Penelope,” Bob wheedled. “It was just a little accident.”

“You fell off a planter,” she said dryly. “I ended up catching Linda.”

“She would have made it.”

“We will never know,” Penelope said forcefully. “You hurt your arm. No more circus.”

“What if...”

“No,” she said again. “This is my fault. I took my eyes off you for more than five seconds.”

“We're still partially adults,” Bob reminded her.

“I like how you think that doesn't apply to when we're adults,” she answered. “Mr. Hooper and Susan usually have to deal with you, but I keep an eye on you.”

“Really?” Bob asked, giving her that mushy look that she probably should have hated more than she did. “What happened to us being adults and not needing extra parents?”

“I'm not your parents. Except for right now which has been one of the weirder moments of my career, thank you, Sesame Street,” she said. “But we live on a magical Street with plenty of things that can cause problems and you trip on your carpet.”

“You can't know that.”

“Three times in the past couple of days, Bob.”

“You are not Mr. Hooper. How do you know that?” He asked. She gave him a smug smile.

“I heard you fall,” she answered. “And I'm actually surprised it wasn't more than that.”

“I spent a few nights at Linda's. And Maria, Luis, and David's,” he answered sheepishly. “You did say 'your carpet'.”

“I did,” she agreed. “And you wonder why we worry about you with, well, everything.”

“You're acting like broken bones aren't something that just happen. Between Minneapolis' need to try everything and my clumsiness, my parents had to check for broken bones a lot. Didn't you have any?” He asked. 

“No,” she answered. 

"I was a well-behaved child."

"So what happened?" Bob teased. She grinned back at him.

"I met you," she answered. "And there's the possibility that being on my own for a while before I got to Sesame Street wasn't in my best interest."

"It wasn't," Bob answered. She tried to feel insulted and couldn't. "So, not even one broken bone?"

"No, Bob," she said. "I diligently followed my parents' rules and tried to help out around the house. Once my father had to leave for a while, my mother needed even more help and I concentrated on that."

"Sounds boring," Bob told her. "You probably would have gotten along with Rupert."

"Yes, Bob. I'm certain that the brother you have that is nice and normal and absolutely not a supernatural agent is the one that I would bond with," she said dryly.

"Minneapolis?" He teased.

"Too much work. I already have to keep Donovan and Kathy in line. Minneapolis would tire me out. No. I'm fine with the brother I made friends with," she said certainly. "How is your arm?"

"It hurts," he admitted. "But I don't think it's broken."

"He's right," the doctor said as she entered. "It's a sprain, but nothing is broken. You're lucky."

"So, why did it hurt so much?" Bob asked, ignoring the last part.

"Because, according to your chart notes, you usually have the body of someone in their mid-thirties. And now your body is smaller and not as used to pain," she answered. She gave them both a wry smile. "All of you from Sesame Street really make us work for our money. Besides, according to Susan's notes here, usually there's some healing that starts and that could also affect things. Your childhood memories of it healing aren't going to match them with quicker healing. Possibly. Honestly? Someone could write their doctorate on this situation and we still wouldn't know the full truth."

"We are a conundrum," Penelope said dryly. "Can I take him home?"

"You can. Give us a call if it doesn't look like it's better when he's back to normal," she said and paused. "Or rather, I suppose he'll be able to do that himself."

"If he doesn't, Susan will make him," Penelope said confidently. She was looking forward to everything being as it should be. "Thank you, doctor."

"My pleasure. And maybe some safer activities in the meantime?" The doctor suggested. Bob looked sheepish.

"Penelope already decided that," he said.

"Good. Then I'll leave you in her capable hands," the doctor said. Penelope looked at at Bob.

"Come on. They'll be worried sick," she said. He easily followed, politely thanking the doctor as he did so.

*

Alan looked up when Penelope came back in looking far more put together than she had before. Bob raced over to the others to explain what was going on while she slid over to where he was. "Is he okay?"

"It's a sprain. It should be fine," Penelope answered. "They're not allowed to play circus anymore."

Apparently Bob had told the same thing to his friends because the chorus of complaining came in quick. Alan looked back at her. "Good."

She nodded. "I'm nervous about cooking tonight."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because we've had to go to the police station and the hospital so a fire truck would make for a trifecta," she answered. Alan paused, realizing her logic there and quickly moved past it so he wouldn't panic.

"But we had to go off the street for both of them," he said. "None of it happened on the street so unless we went to the firehouse, it would be different."

She paused and nodded. "You're right," she answered.

"I am?" He asked.

"It makes as much sense as anything else on Sesame Street," she answered. "So it makes sense for our lives. I'm less worried about a fire now."

He wanted to disagree, but he found himself actually calmer. "Me too."

"There, see? You're getting the hang of this," she said. "How's Gina?"

"Tired," he answered. Penelope nodded.

"It's been a lot for her," Penelope said softly. "We should get her home."

"We should probably stop all of them from taking up Sally's time too," he said, motioning to where they had lost interest in not being able to play circus and had gone into a game of twenty questions with Sally. Penelope groaned.

"They're going to drive me insane," she grumbled and Alan tried not to laugh. He was starting to understand Travis' insistence that Penelope was all growl and no bite. And he was catching on that she usually wasn't as put out as she pretended to be. "Hey! Sally has to work! Stop swarming her like a pack of overeager puppies."

Sally looked at Susan, amusement on her face. "It's nice to know that Sesame Street never changes."

Susan squeezed her hand. "Once we're big again, you need to come over for dinner."

Sally nodded. "I'd like that. It was nice to meet you, Alan!"

"You too, Sally," he said. It was nice to know that they had friends in various areas especially right now when they were needed. Gina woke up as they were leaving and walked next to the others, needing just as much as they did to see that Bob was okay. Big Bird was asking Bob several questions about what happened. The others were listening in which made for a far less stressful walk back to Sesame Street. It was when they were about a block out that he froze in place. Penelope reached over, pulling him so that they could keep walking but still gave him a look that questioned what was wrong.

"I just remembered I hung up on Mr. Hooper because I wouldn't let him come to the hospital," he said. Penelope patted his arm.

"You did the right thing," she answered.

"He's going to fire me," Alan said.

"No one is allowed to fire anyone else when they're magically children," Penelope said. "New rule."

"Can you enforce that?" He asked.

"Yes," Penelope answered. At his skeptical look, she sighed. "You do a good job. And yes, he's upset because he's scared right now. But he'll get over and remember that you're a good employee and that more importantly, you've stayed during this entire mess and he'll get over it."

"You aren't as reassuring as you think you are," he informed her. She shrugged.

"I'm better than I was," she answered. "At least I'm trying. Besides, I'm right on this one."

"Any advice?" He asked and she looked thoughtful.

"How do you want to handle it?" She asked. "Because I will be there regardless."

He looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"I'm good at this partner thing," she said. "A couple of decades with Travis and I know how to double team when necessary. Of course I'll back you up. You were right and you wouldn't have done it if you didn't know that. You're doing good, Alan."

Before he could answer, they'd reached Sesame Street and he could practically feel Mr. Hooper's glare. Harriet didn't look pleased, though it was more of a worry on her face. Mac and Willy swarmed the group without a word, checking them over. Penelope reached over and patted Alan's arm. He easily relinquished control of the teens back to her. She looked at them. "Bob's going to be fine. Fortunately, it's a sprain so he doesn't need a cast. And we have some new rules about playing circus on Sesame Street."

"What sort of new rules?" Harriet asked.

"They're not allowed to play it anymore," Penelope answered. Alan nodded. "Mr. Hooper, Alan and I would like to talk to you please."

Mr. Hooper moved away from the others, following them over back into the store. Once the door was shut, Penelope waited. Alan felt confusion over the entire thing but then he realized that both of them were prepared for this sort of thing. Once he was certain that the others couldn't see, he turned on Alan. "You hung up on me!"

Alan just nodded. "I needed to focus on the kids," he said. "And I wasn't getting through to you."

"You also threatened to ground me," Mr. Hooper reminded him. Alan had forgotten that bit. He wasn't sure how to react until Penelope grinned.

"Alright, Alan!" She said cheerfully. Mr. Hooper glared at her.

"Don't cheer him on," he told her.

"He is one of your guardians and we're co-parenting. I'm being supportive," she said happily. "And he had it under control."

"Penelope, you think anything that's not on fire is under control," Mr. Hooper said.

"You're exaggerating and we're not talking about me keeping things under control. We're talking about Alan doing it," she said. "And he did a great job. He handled you, the kids, the hospital, me..."

Mr. Hooper paused in his tirade. "You?"

"I might have had a moment of panic," she answered. "You are sixteen right now and you weren't listening to Alan so don't get all preachy at me for breaking down."

Mr. Hooper's look shifted. Alan still found it disconcerting when they went from acting the age they looked to having their full ages looking back at him and that was how Mr. Hooper looked now. He didn't say anything at first before he finally just nodded to them. He looked at her. "And now?" He asked.

"And now, everything is handled and I'm fine," she answered. "And you're fine. And Bob is fine. Alan's worried about his job though."

Mr. Hooper rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to fire you," he said.

Alan relaxed at those words. "I'm sorry you weren't able to come."

The two men nodded and Penelope looked calmer. "Good. Now get out of here. I need to let Gabi and Miles know that their dad got hurt but is okay. I'll be out in a minute."

Mr. Hooper's eyes shone as he looked at Alan. "There are days when I think she finally understands how to be supportive and then every time, she misses it by that much."

Penelope glared at him but Alan just laughed. "She's getting there," he offered. The two headed out afterward, leaving Penelope to make the call while she rolled her eyes.


	6. Changing Back and Finales

Penelope finished reassuring Gabi and Miles that Bob would be fine and that she was just letting them know because she promised to. Penelope was regretting her promise to tell them things. That said, she knew she'd have felt the same way if she was in their position so she managed to keep her patience rather well and waited until they were done before hanging up. Hopefully, things would be back to normal by the time they got home, but she was feeling that Bob would be the first they'd flock to. She headed outside when she heard the commotion. Alan was trying to calm all of them down, but the stress over everything had boiled over.

"You had to have known that a game that involves acrobats and fire-eaters might be dangerous," Mr. Hooper said. Harriet just nodded, all of her humor gone.

"Guys..." Alan started. Mr. Hooper glanced at him and started to back down, but David picked that time to continue.

"At least we didn't play a game that ended with jailtime," he answered. Penelope rubbed her temples. Mr. Hooper and Harriet were right back in the fray and Mac and Willy were joining them. She made it to Alan's side.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked.

"We walked right out into the middle of it," he said. She was right. They had all been worried and scared and were trying to deal with those feelings, but this was something she recognized.

"You can't control emotions like an adult when you're a child," she said quietly. Alan looked at her curiously. She smiled. "Something someone told me when I was changed into a kid and couldn't handle it anymore."

"How do we deal with this?" He asked, motioning to the argument. Penelope sighed.

"Only one way. I really don't want to do this, but I don't see any other way," she said. She pulled herself up to get as much height as possible and yelled. 

“That’s it!” Penelope yelled. They all whipped their head around to look at her. “You have all driven me to have to do this. We are going to have a family meeting. Right now.”

“You hate family meetings,” Luis said.

“Drove me to it,” she said. “There is yelling and accusing and worry and I’m done. We will talk about this in a reasonable communicative manner. And that means family meetings.”

“Should I leave?” Alan said, looking a little awkward. Penelope rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re family too,” she said, not sounding the least bit reassuring and instead sounding completely annoyed with all of them.

She wasn't about to be calming right now when she needed him and like it or not, he was family. He just needed to accept that. They all needed to accept that this meant she was at her wits end. "Mac, take WIlly and go get some fruit. I'll pay you back for it later. Mr. Hooper, David, go get anything that counts as snack food. The rest of you. My apartment. Now."

"Why yours?" Susan asked softly. "We can have it in ours. It's bigger."

"Right now, I want it on common ground," she answered. "And that means my place. Move!"

They all reluctantly followed her instructions and made their way up. Penelope turned to Big Bird who was obviously distressed by the arguing let alone her raising her voice to all of them. "Are you alright?" She asked gently.

"They wouldn't stop arguing, Penelope," he said. "Why are they so upset?"

Penelope took his wing. "They were scared and worried. They didn't mean to scare you and they are definitely going to apologize later, but they need just a little bit to calm down. I'm going to go help them, but are you going to be okay?"

She waited as Big Bird nodded. "They'll feel better, right?"

"They will," she promised. "Do you want to come with or do you want to go play for a little while with the kids?" She asked. He thought about it for a minute and then nodded.

"I want to go play," he answered. "Can they come play when you're done?"

"Of course," she assured him. "And thank you for being a big help. I'm sorry it got a little scary at the end of everything, but you did great besides from that."

He gave her a hug. "Thanks, Penelope!"

She waited until she could see him catch up with some of the monsters before she headed up to her apartment. She shut the door behind her. At least they weren't yelling at each other at the moment and instead just looked upset. She sighed and headed toward her kitchen, pulling down dishes in the silence and passing out snacks. She looked at them sternly. "All of you need to eat. I understand that you had a rough day with police officers and hospitals, but we're going to talk it all over. Calmly. Without yelling or accusing each other of things. And then when we're done, we are going to hug and go apologize for scaring Big Bird and we will get through the rest of this day together instead of sniping at each other. Understood?"

There were various agreements and no one disagreed, so she pressed forward. "Why don't we start with what that argument was originally over? Who wants to go first?"

That was the wrong things to say as they all started to talk over each other. Penelope sighed. "Gina, go first. Please explain to me what happened."

Gina shrugged and spoke up. "David got mad because they couldn't play the game anymore and Bob felt he was blaming him and got upset. David felt bad, but Harriet told him he should think about what he was saying before he said it then. He turned on her and insisted he was doing fine and she wasn't doing any better. Susan brought up that it wasn't worth playing right now anyway which Harriet agreed with and David disagreed with. Bob tried to insist it wasn't that bad so we didn't need to argue but Mac argued that the four of them had to stay behind and worry so it is a big deal to them. Then Mr. Hooper came out and got involved and you saw the rest of it."

"I did," she answered. "First of all, Bob is going to be fine. It's a sprain, but it's also Bob and he is clumsy. He's likely to hurt himself. I wasn't expecting this one, but I also wasn't expecting any of you to play circus. Like I told Bob, I blame myself for taking my eyes off the lot of you for more than five seconds and only then because I'm nearly certain that Linda can't develop a plan and get the rest of you involved in that short amount of time. Speaking of which, all of you did a very good job yelling in sign as well as verbally so that Linda wouldn't be left out. Good job there. But even if Bob hadn't gotten hurt, I would have stopped the game after I found Linda being an acrobat. It just isn't a safe game the way you guys play it. Now, stop arguing, apologize to each other, and stop trying to hit each other’s weak spots to win an argument."

Penelope leaned back and let Alan move in as well, giving him to the chance to lead in the same way she had. He took it. "Mr. Hooper, Harriet, Mr. Macintosh, and Willy were very worried about Bob and it's not nice to bring up situations just because you're upset. Also, you guys upset Big Bird by arguing."

"We what?" Susan asked in horror. Penelope held up a hand.

"You can go apologize in a minute," she said. "He's handling it well for the surprise it gave him. But you need to try to do better. No more arguing. Pick a quiet game. And I don't care how upset you are, you do not take it out on each other! You know better!"

"We do," Harriet answered, starting the apology chain. Alan and Penelope relaxed as the others easily joined in and ended the situation. She sent them outside after as they apologized to Big Bird.

For the most part, coloring lasted the rest of the afternoon since all of them wanted to make it up to Big Bird and that was what Big Bird wanted to do. Penelope and Alan relaxed, enjoying that there was some calm in their world once again. They could just make dinner and call it a night. That said, after the beginning part of the morning, they took turns keeping an eye on things.

Alan stopped Linda from getting into small spaces to see if she could.

Penelope stopped David, again, from climbing on things.

Alan pushed Gina to eat more often.

Penelope pushed Susan to relax more.

Both of them scolded Gordon when he talked back to them.

Maria and Luis were separated for arguing about the proper way to fix a lamp.

Bob was scolded for trying to climb on things especially with a sprained arm.

None of the teens gave them any more problems, really, other than Penelope having to remind Mac and Willy that they could see them making out over there and could they please stop. As well as informing Mr. Hooper and Harriet that looking the other way was not going to be what the kids did and please stop them next time. All of this equaled out to them trying to figure out where it would work until Penelope threw up her hands and Alan told them if they did it again, they were going to be separated for an hour.

Still, even without them causing as much trouble as they could, it was exhausting. So when Maria and Luis were at it again, Penelope held back her growl. Fortunately, someone else made it there first. "I'm pretty sure Penelope told you to leave it alone, Uncle Luis."

Penelope looked over at the same time Luis did. Luis got there first though, wrapping his smaller arms around the man. "Antonio!"

"Hi, Uncle Luis!" He answered. "Gabi called and mentioned that you could use some help?"

He directed the second part to Penelope who looked relieved. "I hope you weren't busy."

"I was in the neighborhood," he answered, holding up a guitar case. "I had a gig."

Luis beamed at his nephew. It had been a long time since Raphael and Antonio were able to visit, but it was always good to see them. Raphael had been extremely amused that his ex-boyfriend had ended up with five other people and even more amused at the age difference between their shared nephew and Gabi. Just because they'd broken up, after all, didn't mean that it hadn't been amiable nor did it mean that Luis was suddenly not an uncle to Antonio. The fact that Antonio had chosen to study and master the guitar to the point where being a musician was his job was a source of pride for Luis. Gabi, of course, loved her cousin and was thrilled when he came around, age difference or not.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Penelope said. "Luis and Maria keep arguing over fixing things so if you can just stop them from doing that, it would help."

"No wonder Miles is worried about you and Alan," Antonio teased. "They're running circles around you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Penelope sniffed. She appreciated the help, but the commentary was less needed. She did let it go at that considering he was just grinning. To be fair, Miles and Gabi would be back soon so any amount of help would be welcomed. With Antonio's help, they were far more able to corral the kids and keep the teens at bay. As dinner neared, Gabi and Miles returned home and Penelope came to the realization that most likely, they would have to watch the kids again for the night. She headed back to Hooper's to discuss things with Alan.

*

Alan was trying to figure out how to cook and stop David from teasing Gina. They'd been doing so well before this but it was like after coloring with Big Bird and controlling themselves slightly that they needed to fall back into a state of chaos. As Penelope entered, he grew even more worried. "Do you need my help?"

"Not right now. Antonio decided to pay a surprise visit and was, at last glance, handling Luis, Maria, Linda, and Olivia. Susan won't let Bob out of her sight, no matter how many times I tell her to relax, and Gordon is with them. What's going on here?" She asked.

"David is picking on Gina," Alan answered.

"I'm not picking on her," David grumbled. Gina rolled her eyes.

"I'm just ignoring him," she said. Alan felt for Gina right now. Then again, from what he'd seen, he often felt for Gina. Penelope looked at David.

"Your daughter is home," she said. David abandoned what he was doing and raced out the door. Alan looked at Penelope.

"They're back?" He asked with a sense of dread.

"They're back," she answered, equally as tired. Gina was staying out of things while they were talking. Alan was pretty sure that Gina was definitely his favorite. "And it'll be dinner soon."

"So we're going to need to take them another night?" He asked. She nodded. "Okay. So, how do we fit in Gabi and Miles?"

"I definitely should take Miles. I have all of his parents," she said. "Gabi, I think, we'll just let decide. We'll have an equal number in each place at that point anyway. We can check with her after dinner."

Alan nodded. "That seems fair. Hopefully, Mumford will get back in the morning."

"Why wait until morning when the Amazing Mumford is here now?" Mumford asked from the doorway. Alan had never been so happy to see someone. From the look on Penelope's face, neither had she.

"Welcome back," she said. "Fix it please."

"Uh... if you're sure you've got it that is," Alan added quickly. They didn't want to make things worse. They were out of adults if it backfired.

"I am ready. Just bring everyone into a circle and we can undo the spell!" He said. Penelope rushed out to get them as Alan took Gina's hand. They corralled the adults-turned-children together. Antonio kept an arm around Gabi and Miles for support while Big Bird watched next to them. Penelope and Alan did a quick head count, nodded to each other, and took a step back with Antonio, Big Bird, Gabi, and Miles to watch. Mumford raised his wand and Alan's heart jumped into his throat.

"Ala Peanut Butter Sandwiches!" He called out. The was a poof of smoke and when it clear, the kids were back to being adults. There was some cheering and Alan physically relaxed. It was over. All of them were hugging again, apologizing to each other, trying to let their minds catch up. He felt a hand touch his arm after a minute and looked to see Gina.

"They'll remember to in a minute," she said. "But thank you. I appreciate you staying around and taking care of us."

"I'm just glad you're all back to normal," he said honestly. She nodded.

"Let Penelope know I'll thank her later, but I need to go talk to Savion right now," she said. She paused for a minute and smiled. "If you need to talk to someone to just work through everything that happened, come talk to me tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed and smiled a bit. "You're good at this."

"I understand how you feel," she told him. "I have Savion to help me when it just gets too weird. Now, you have me."

He squeezed her hand and nodded. He felt another clap on his back once she was gone as Gordon looked down at him. With everything that happened, he'd forgotten just how tall the man was. "I told you that if you faked it, you'd pull it off," he said.

"That does still worry me," he admitted. Gordon snorted at that.

"First thing you learn about being a parent is that people look to you when you don't have the answer. You figured that out and you kept your head. I'm proud of you," he said. "Plus, dealing with Penelope as a coparent can't be easy. You handled that too."

"She did fine," Alan protested. Gordon patted his shoulder.

"Very proud," he said. "We're glad you're here."

With that, he collected his wife and son as Alan relaxed for a minute. "You should take the next few days off."

He looked to see Mr. Hooper standing next to him. "I take it I'm not fired?"

"No," Mr. Hooper said. "And as much as I hate to admit it, you were right. If I had been in your position, I would have done the same thing. You handled it very well."

"Thank you," Alan said, accepting the high praise for what it was. Mr. Hooper nodded.

"And I'm sure you'll be hearing this a lot, either tonight or tomorrow once everyone calms down, but I'm sorry for the trouble we caused you," he said. "I'm glad you stayed and put up with it."

"Everyone keeps saying that," Alan said. "What else could I have done?"

"Left," Mr. Hooper answered. "I know you never would have when we were alone, but you didn't have to stay when Penelope arrived but you did. And that's why we're thankful."

"Like I said, what else could I have done?" Alan asked. It had been tough, but he wouldn't have abandoned them and none of them had seemingly considered the possibility that he might when they were kids. It was only now that they were adults again that they realized just what he had been willing to go through. "So, uh, do you think that might be the last emergency for a while?"

"I hope so," Mr. Hooper said. "I could use a few years break."

Alan just nodded and smiled. "Me too."

Mr. Hooper nodded to him and headed off as Alan accepted the thanks from the other members of the street. He wasn't a protector, but maybe he was needed here.

***

Penelope accepted the hugs in good humor. _"Next time, no acrobatics. Or coffee."_ She told Linda.

_"The acrobatics, I can see. But coffee?"_ Linda asked playfully.

_"We'll talk about it if it happens again."_ Penelope told her. Both women just looked amused. She looked over Linda's shoulder. _"I think Barkley wants your attention."_

Maria and Luis were talking with Antonio, each with an arm around Gabi. David had put his hands on his daughter's shoulders as they talked. Olivia joined them shortly after. Each of them had already thanked her, thanked Alan, and now were thanking Antonio. The young man agreed to spend the night as well. Penelope was glad that they would have a chance to catch up without them being children. She headed over to where Susan, Gordon, Miles, and Bob were. Bob had been moving between his four children: Reassuring Big Bird, petting Barkley, laughing at something Gabi had said, and now teaming up with Miles.

She looked at all of them as she walked over. "How is your arm, Bob?" She asked.

"It's fine," he promised. "Susan checked it over three times already."

"He's exaggerating," Susan said.

"Not by much," Miles and Gordon both muttered. She glared at both of them and Penelope managed to swallow her own laugh.

"If Susan says it's fine, then it's fine," Penelope said. Susan sighed.

"He should get it checked by a doctor, Penelope," she told her.

"I firmly disagree but it's Bob's arm," she answered. At least this time, she wouldn't have to go with him. If Bob wanted to go, he could either go on his own or take one of his many partners with him. Now that she knew it was okay, she felt better about the situation, but that didn't mean she wanted to be involved any further. She looked at Miles. "Your parents were trouble when they were younger."

"Didn't you say they're trouble now?" Miles teased.

"I said Bob is trouble now," she said.

"I was not!" Susan exclaimed. Penelope just grinned as Susan glared at her. Gordon, on the other hand, didn't protest.

"Penelope," he said. "I'm sorry for pushing the last couple of days."

"It's fine," she assured him. "You weren't in your right head. I'm just glad it's over."

Gordon nodded, though she had the feeling that he'd still feel a little bad for a bit about it. He was a parent and he knew how hard it was to deal with it. She could try to let him off the hook all she wanted, but it wasn't going to be that easy. "Well, I'm just glad you were here."

"Where else would I have been?" She asked. "Unless I was already off the Street for unrelated reasons. I'm just glad that you can do your own thing tonight and I can sleep in my own bed and not on the floor."

"You slept on the floor?" Miles asked in amusement.

"It was a thing," Penelope answered. "I was being a good guardian."

"I didn't know that you knew how to sleep on the floor," Miles told her. "It goes against your whole image thing."

"See, it's days like these that make me wonder how Street magic thought it was a good idea to give you Susan, Gordon, and Bob's traits. It's a dangerous combination," she informed him. He looked at her.

"You don't think that way about Gabi?" He asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Miles. I wonder that about your periodically. I wonder what the Street was thinking about Gabi daily," she answered, smiling so she didn't hurt his feelings with the joke. Miles just laughed in turn. She looked at Bob. "Listen to Susan."

"You wouldn't," he reminded her.

"Yeah, well. Do it anyway," she said. "Make sure your arm is okay."

Bob pulled her into a hug which she returned. "Thank you," he told her.

She didn't answer, but if she hugged him back harder than normal, it maybe not have been a complete coincidence. The family headed off and Penelope relaxed. That should be the end of it. She was, of course, wrong as an apple appeared in her view. She easily took in, biting into it before looking into the much older eyes of Mr. Macintosh. Willy stood beside him as Mr. Hooper and Harriet hung further back. Mr. Macintosh motioned to the apple. "An apology for making you come down to the police station."

"It wasn't your fault," she answered easily. "But thank you for the apple."

"Also for the, erm, lack of discretion," Willy added.

"Okay, that was your fault," she agreed. "Apology accepted."

She wasn't sure if she was getting softer as time went on or if she was easily convinced with his fruit. She also wasn't sure which was worse. Still, it was over, they were apologizing, and both of them had never been anything but supportive up until this point. There really wasn't a need to push it further. She watched as they headed off and turned to face Harriet, knowing who would be next. She had, of course, checked on the others first which Penelope greatly approved of. She was also pretty sure that she would be doting on her great grandchildren shortly. For now, the two faced off so to speak. Harriet gently took her hands and squeezed them.

"Thank you," she said gently. "That could have been a lot worse and a lot harder if it would have been someone we didn't know."

"Not going to happen on Sesame Street," she answered. "And you should probably call for one of us to come get you if it happens off the Street."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said. "But you did do a good job with them and with us. Especially with everything you had to figure out. That was a lot of children."

"At least you were all somewhat in your right minds," she said. "I mean, it's not like Gina was a real three-year-old. And the others weren't really kids."

Harriet looked at her sternly. "Do no underplay your successes," she said.

"Yes, Harriet," she said.

"Now, did you do a good job?" She asked.

"Yes," Penelope answered. Harriet beamed at her.

"Good girl," she said. "Thank you again."

Penelope just nodded the second time as Harriet went off in search of her other family members leaving Penelope alone with Mr. Hooper. The two of them looked at each other almost awkwardly. Neither of them were truly comfortable in the position that they had been forced into the past couple of day. 

"That could have gone worse," Penelope said.

"We got arrested," Mr. Hooper said dryly. "And you weren't making it better."

"I think that the important thing is that I got you out of it. You're welcome," she said. 

That said, Penelope certainly wasn’t pushing it beyond that. She looked at Mr. Hooper and sighed. “I’m sorry I tried to ground you,” she offered.

“I’m sorry I sort of deserved it,” Mr. Hooper answered back. “It’s not easy dealing with this lot and sometimes, I forget that.”

“Maria, Linda, Luis, David, Gina, and Olivia weren’t that hard,” she admitted. “They’re younger siblings to me anyway. Bob and Susan being younger was weird. Gordon being younger and a pain my…”

“Penelope…” Mr. Hooper warned. She held up her hands.

“I was going to say neck,” she said, sounding a little affronted. “Anyway, that was hard. But dealing with Mr. Macintosh, Willy, Harriet, and you as teenagers was beyond my own comfort level. And I had to do it anyway. You’ve all been in my life for a long time and you were the four I could go to if I became overwhelmed. And then suddenly, I couldn’t.”

“Is that why you pushed the police officers?” He asked. She rolled her eyes.

“No, I did that because a certain someone taught me how to hold grudges,” she answered. “I try not to deal with that department. I try very hard because I don’t tend to lock the doors like the rest of you do here. I leave that up to you. Linda did it with the dog lady…”

“They took Barkley off the Street without asking,” Mr. Hooper said. “And tried to rehome him.”

“I’m not saying she shouldn’t. Of course she should! I’m saying that no one judged her for it,” Penelope said. Mr. Hooper rolled his eyes.

“Take it down a notch when you’re doing things and we’ll talk,” he said. He paused. “What if you had figured it out earlier which department it was?”

“I would have either asked Alan to do it,” she answered. “And then when he seemed too upset to do it, I still would have done it but I also would have taken David in case there was trouble. And since I’d be using David as a lawyer instead of a kid, I’d listen to him when he told me to show them my paperwork.”

“And you couldn’t just do that on your own?” He demanded.

“Nope,” she answered. He groaned.

"You're impossible," he informed her.

"I know," she answered. "But it makes sense to me."

“Other than that,” Mr. Hooper said, folding his arms. “You did well.”

“Thank you for the sort of compliment,” Penelope said dryly. “You thought it was funny at the time.”

“I was sixteen,” he reminded her. She grinned.

“You were like Linda and Bob,” she said smoothly.

“Penelope…” he warned.

“But more Linda, right? Please tell me you thought things through,” she pleaded.

“I will ground you right now if you don’t stop,” he warned. She wasn’t sure if that meant that he was indeed more like Linda than Bob, but she’d never really seen him get hurt so she was guessing it was the former. She did drop it however and her smile faded.

“I suppose I should say thank you,” she said. He looked surprised and more than a little confused. She pushed forward. “It’s hard to be in that much control all of the time with all of them choosing to be difficult. And you do it all the time. So… thanks.”

"I take it you aren't going to do things easier?" He asked.

"I'm already too easy on you," she answered with a grin. "But thank you."

He reached over and they gave the other a quick hug. "You're welcome."

"And that stuff? That I said at the police department? I meant it, I guess," she said, feeling a little awkward again.

"You guess," Mr. Hooper said, rolling his eyes. She gave him a smile back. She rocked back on her heels.

"Harriet won't be on the Street for long," she said.

"Penelope, mind your own business," Mr. Hooper warned.

"Okay, but if you miss your chance..." she said. He looked a little torn.

"I'll ground you in the morning," he said before taking off. She had no doubt that he'd remember he said that. She also had little doubt that she was off the hook this time. As the others rushed around to try to spend time with each other, she made her way back over to Alan.

***

Alan was exhausted. All of this had just been tiring and he was ready for a break. He headed over to where Penelope was standing. Even Gina had taken off, going to go call Savion for some adult conversation with her best friend. That left Penelope and Alan along in Hooper's Store, just watching where the parade of adults had rushed out and Penelope was betting on several windows being closed shortly, something she'd muttered to him. Thanks to the rule for the teens, he now understood that reference. “Egg cream?” He asked her gently.

“Please,” she agreed. He made one for himself as well, joining her at the counter. Both of them looked exhausted. “That was a hard one.”

“One?” Alan asked.

“Adventure, I guess,” Penelope said. “You did good.”

He would have accused her of being nice, but Penelope was seldom just nice for the sake of being so unless she was talking with one of the kids. That meant that she most likely believed what she was saying. It was with that knowledge, that he spoke up. “I was terrified.”

“I know,” Penelope said. He felt a little annoyed by that statement, but she continued without seeming to notice. “Trial by fire is hard and it seems to be the only thing you're getting right now. But you're not that burned, the fire's put out, and we move on. So what if you're scared. You did it anyway.”

“Does that mean you were scared?” He asked. She paused before answering.

“Mostly no,” she answered. “Annoyed, but not scared. Except for when we had to take Bob to the hospital. Then I was scared and I froze up. And you handled it.”

“It's not like you to freeze,” he said and she smiled a bit at that.

“When I was turned smaller, I slipped and fell playing with Big Bird. Susan was worried I broke something because we weren't sure if it would heal right when I turned back. Mine lasted a week and a broken bone takes far longer to heal. With Bob, I was worried that it was going to heal wrong because of that,” she said. “Bob is a musicians. He needs his arms to be able to play his instruments and make his living. And I was worried that because I hadn't kept a better eye on him when he needed me, that he wouldn't have that anymore.”

“He wouldn't have blamed you,” Alan reminded her. The look she started with was harsh before she seemed to realize she was talking to him and pulled back, trying to rephrase it.

“I blamed myself,” she answered instead. “Do you have any idea how much time Bob spent trying to get me involved when I first got here?”

Alan laughed. “I do,” he answered and Penelope laughed with him, completely in understanding. They didn't have a lot in common, but they had this.

“I suppose you do,” she agreed. “But letting him down did affect me more than I thought it would and I care about all of them. They're my family. All of you are my family. Back to you, you handled yourself extremely well. And this is coming from a woman who had to deal with werewolves on her first week at work.”

“Werewolves?” Alan asked. He hadn't signed up for werewolves. Fortunately, she waved it off.

“They aren't on the Street and if they are, it's safe. Everything on Sesame Street is safe,” she reminded him. “The point is, that was a lot less scary than this.”

“There were werewolves. I appreciate the compliment but...”

“Alan. I helped you these past two days. Believe me. It was less scary,” she said firmly. She stood up and headed toward the door before pausing. She looked somewhat thoughtful. “No one will ever blame you if you decide to leave. We get it. And you aren't a protector. This is a lot to take in. But for what it's worth, I hope you stick around for a while.”

With that, she nodded and headed out the door. Travis had told him that she wasn't as terrifying as she tried to be when he was trying to help Alan adapt. That said, other than his need for approval and affection, Travis didn't seem phased by much anymore. That was something that Alan was worried he couldn't accomplish.

But he did want to stay, even if it was a very unusual street and he didn't know how to handle it most of the time. He liked Mr. Hooper and working for him. He liked trying to learn new things, even if it was frustrating when Big Bird was picky about his milkshakes. He liked the people on this Street even if they baffled him to no end and appreciated their 'never involve Alan' refrain with their endless list of bad ideas. And Penelope was right that he'd managed to help hold things together when he needed to. He picked up a rag and washed down the counter, smiling to himself. This was home.


End file.
